


The Nagual Way

by KikaKatTIOI



Category: Elena of Avalor (Cartoon)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Found Family, Mayan Mythology - Freeform, Minor Character Death, Multi, Mythology References
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:06:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26573440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KikaKatTIOI/pseuds/KikaKatTIOI
Summary: After stumbling upon a mysterious group of shapeshifters, Esteban finds out that falling into the Well of Takaina gave him more than just powers.
Relationships: Esteban (Disney)/Original Character(s), Esteban/OC
Comments: 10
Kudos: 16





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Note: If you are new readers, I want to say hi and welcome! EoA has ended which means it’s finally time to present my new fic. And considering the type of story I’m telling, I’d thought it best to start posting this month since it’s Hispanic/Latino Heritage month. And if you are readers of my other fanfics, yes, I know, I’m way behind on finishing one story and updating another but this one has been in my mind for ages so it’s now or never.
> 
> So this is going to be a very interesting fic. Compared to my other fics, the pairing plays a bigger part. Second, I finally get to use my knowledge of Mesoamerican culture and mythology. That’s right, I’m gonna nerd the heck out on this story so buckle up! Usually, I start with descriptions of my OC, but there are many other Oc’s and well…. I’m just too excited I’m going to jump right in. Fair warning we start way back in the past. But don’t worry we’ll get to Esteban and how he fits into the Nagual world soon. 
> 
> Things to Note:  
> (Bold) means translation
> 
> (In Italicized) This would mean a description of a certain detail if not explained within the text of the story.
> 
> !!And every chapter will have fun facts so ALWAYS STAY TUNED after every endnote!!  
> Now without further ado, I’d like to teach you all the Nagual Way….

**PROLOGUE**

**600 years ago**

**Center of the Kingdom of Maru**

“The Shadows of the Night! They’re real! And they’re attacking Tepet Muul!”

In an instant, a quiet jungle suddenly came to life. The floor rumbled as several feet hit the ground running, making bush rustle and trees shake as the owners passed by. Soon they made it out of the jungle and into a clear path revealing animals of all kinds. Deer, hawk, coyote, iguana… all followed behind a jaguar wearing a large bead jade necklace with a flower glyph hanging down at the center.

She led the animals up the clear path towards the city at the base of a mountain. There, they found themselves among chaos. Smoke like shadows covered the area. They grew like roots among the wooden walls and grassy roofs of several homes while it blocked the view of the many paths throughout the village. Darting in and out of the shadows were people, all screaming in fear of something that couldn’t be seen.

The animals stopped at the edge of the village as the jaguar took a step forward. Suddenly a burst of green light with floating jaguar glyphs took her place before it all disappeared to reveal a woman. Like the people, she had russet-brown skin and dark brown hair held up in a bun. She wore a gold crown of green feathers to complement her green flower quechquemitl and long white dress with green jaguar glyphs embroidered on the hems.

_(quechquemitl: cloth worn around the shoulders and chest like shall or small poncho)_

As she raised her hand to hold on tightly to the jade flower necklace on her neck, the women’s brown eyes scanned the village to get a better look at what was happening. She noticed a blur of blue and green jumping from house to house or running in and out of the shadows, leaving an echo of laughter behind. A deer, wearing a jade earring, asked the jaguar with panic in his voice, “Balaamen, what do we do?” 

“I-I don’t know…” Balaamen responded, the turmoil in front of her almost making her want to retreat back into the jungle. 

She looked up in time to see a yellow parakeet come flying down to her. At the last moment, it burst into sparks of blue and bird glyphs before revealing a man wearing a blue hipcloth. He landed in front of Balamen in a squat before standing up and pointing behind him. “I can’t see them, but the Shades are in there somewhere. They’re making people go crazy, and turning them into animals. Some warriors have come down from the main city to help but even they’re no match--”

At that moment the sound of thunder in distance and everyone looked to the mountainscape not too far behind the village. Between two mountains and sitting on a canyon was a city full of temples with a large storm cloud forming overhead. “By Chaac’s scales….” gasped a spider monkey.

“I don’t think it’s him…” A tapir replied. 

The other animals began to speak up. “Even the main city is under attack.”

“What if they spread their chaos into the Jungle? All of Maru?”

“If the Princess were here, she could probably stop all this.”

“But she’s still missing.”

Balaamen looked between the main city and the village in fear. “Our Lightning Warrior is gone,” She began almost sounding like she was out of breath, “We can’t see our enemy and we don’t know the extent of their abilities.” Then she shook her head and the fear in her voice was replaced with determination. “But the gods created us with a purpose, and not just to be a wizard’s assistant.” She turned to face the group with her chin up. “Help remaining families to the safety of their homes. Nexicho and Ejutla, you’re with me.” The deer and a tapir nodded. “We’ll go help the people in the main city.”

Without another word, the other animals ran into the fray. Balaamen shapeshifted back into a jaguar and ran with Nexicho and Ejutla up a major path towards the canyon. Once they crossed the earthen bridge over the gulge, they found themselves surrounded by thicker shadow roots making it impossible to see anything but the tops of the temples. “Nexicho!” Balamen yelled, “Clear the way!”

Nexicho burst into indigo light and glowing deer glyphs before he became a human man wearing a purple cape and a lion cloth. He kept running but added a little spin and swung his arms right to left. A tunnel of wind formed around the three and pushed the shadows aside, giving them a view of a marketplace between the base of two temples. Not only were people running around in a panic but there were also giant stone slabs standing upright and scattered around. “What is…?” Balaamen gasped as she stopped to see that each stone slap had a carving of a person mid-run. “Are they… our people?”

“Balaamen!” Ejulta yelled as he burst into glowing yellow tapir glyphs and turned into a man wearing a loincloth. He jumped high and came down low with his hands in a fist, slamming them into the ground so that the rocky floor rose and created an arc over Balaamen. That’s when lightning from the storm above struck the rock formation, only leaving a charred spot on the surface. When the rock collapsed back into the ground, Balamen stood up in one piece and said almost breathless, “Thank you.”

Then the woman took the chance to look between the sky and the stone slabs scattered around the marketplace. “The Shades… they’re too powerful, they’re only one way to stop them--” she gasped and looked ahead. Over a sea of dark shadows, she eyed the second tallest temple and gasped, “She wouldn’t--”

“What?” Nexicho asked. 

“Stay here and help our people, I’ll help Amalay find a different way to stop them!” Balaamen yelled before turning tail.

“But if she has a plan she can handle it on her own, right?”

“I know what she’s going to do, and I can’t let her do it!” And that’s all the shapeshifters heard before their leader disappeared into the shadows. Balaamen barely looked away from her destination until she made it through the narrow entrance at the base of the temple. She didn’t notice that something small had seen her go in. They followed after her, hovering through the shadows in silence.

There were many stone corridors lit by torches, but Balamen never hesitated on where to go. Right, left, and left again until she made it to one hallway guarded by two warriors wearing a helmet shaped like a jaguar and held shields and macuahuitl at the ready. 

_(macuahuitl: wooden clubs studded with obsidian glass blades)_

Balaamen skidded to a halt as she shapeshifted back into human form and asked, “Where is she?”

“She told us not to let you--”

“Please...” Balaamen pleaded. The two men looked at each other with long faces before stepping aside. Balaamen didn’t wait another second and rushed in. She kept running until she found herself at a dead end. 

There was a tall, thin pedestal just in front of the wall. Next to it was a woman wearing a golden crown of colorful feathers. Her long gold and jade earrings matched the jade and gold clasp with feathers on her neck. Her golden quechquemitl was intricately designed with a bright pink heart shape. For a second, Balamen stopped and stared at the women. A small smile almost forming until she saw what was in the woman’s hands. “The Jewel of Maru…” Balaamen gasped. “Amalay… you can’t… You’re our only Royal Wizard.” Balaamen’s voice began to crack, “… you’re… you’re too important to us… to me…”

Amalay held up the small five-sided jade pyramid in her hands. “Tezca snuck back into Tepet Muul and opened a portal to the dark side of the Spirit World. The Shadows of the Night broke through and now Tezca is not here to clean up his mess.” She held a deep frown as her fingers traced the lines of the carved spirals. “This is the only way to stop them. You know it to be true. I’m willing to make my sacrifice.”

The shapeshifter could see in Amalay’s eyes there was no way to convince her to stop what she was about to do. Balaamen bowed her head and walked up to stand in front of Amalay. She didn’t look up, so Amalay couldn’t see her face when she said, “I’m Nagual, so you don’t get to do this alone.” Balaamen held up her hand and looked at Amalay with determination. 

“But--” Amalay was cut off when the sound of yelling was heard far down the hallway where the warriors had been at their post. The two women tried to see what happened but the growing darkness made it hard to see. But small flashes of purple light signaled that something was coming. They were out of time. 

Amalay’s eyes shifted back to Balaamen who was distracted trying to see the intruder. Her eyes shifted back and forth and then the Royal Wizard took a deep breath held Balaamen’s hand. The shapeshifter’s eye’s widened and she looked back at Amalay. “Together,” The wizard said with a smile. Balamen smiled back

They stood alongside each other in front of the pedestal holding the Jewel of Maru in their hands. The shadows crept closer and an eerie purple glow began to grow closer. A dark, feminine chuckle echoed off the walls. The two women ignored it, closed their eyes, and began to chant:

“Ika no yolotl, tlein _way_ kaua seualotl” **(With my beating heart, may it’s _essence_ stop the dark)**

As they chanted over and over again, the Jewel began to glow green. Its light grew brighter with every word, cutting through the shadow roots like shredding paper. The shapeshifter and the wizard chanted louder and louder until, finally, in a blinding flash of light, the shadows turned to ash and fell gently to the ground. When the women opened their eyes, they saw what had followed Balamen inside was no longer there. 

The shapeshifter kept hold of the Jewel in her left hand but held up her right hand to look at it before once again looking around. “I think, I think we did it… but how are we still alive--?” Amalay suddenly collapsed onto her hands and knees. “Amalay!!” Balaamen dropped the Jewel and got down on her knees to put a hand around the wizard’s shoulders. But that’s when she realized Amalay’s russet-brown skin started to sparkle with blue light. “No, no, nononono!” Balaamen began to panic. “We both said the spell. Why only you?”

“Balaamen!” came the voice of Nexicho as he and Ejulta ran into the room. 

They stopped a couple of meters away from the women as Ejulta said, “Whatever you did, it worked. But where are our people?”

"What?” Amalay and Balamen asked surprised. 

Nexicho began to explain, “We saw the magic come out from here, destroy the darkness, and take the Shadows of the Night with them. But all our people, even the ones that had been transformed by the Shades… they’re gone. Only us Naguals were untouched.”

Amalay’s eyes widened but then squeezed shut in pain. “The Jewel knew… that it takes more… then one life… more then two… to stop great darkness” She moaned before she almost fell forward. But Balaamen held on to her and had her lay against her chest, the wizard’s head resting on her shoulder. Nexicho and Ejulta noticed Amalay glow blue and become almost transparent. They looked at each other, realizing what must have happened and they stepped back giving the two women space.

Balaamen was almost in tears now, saying through small choked sobs, “I’m sorry…” She held Amalay close so that her other hand could hold on to Amalay’s. “I wasn’t strong enough, I failed…”

“No, no you didn’t,” Amalay said, “I used every ounce of me to make sure you wouldn’t be taken… I wanted you to carry on.” Balaamen looked at Amalay in shock but the wizard continued. “But now it’s not just you. Naguals… you must all carry on… if all of the people are gone...”

Balaamen shook her head, “But, but how? There aren’t many of us. And-- and we’re only half-human, we’re not worthy--”

“That doesn’t make you less Maruvian. You’ve all served us well… now protect each other… protect nature… help those in need…” A single tear rolled down her cheek as she looked up at Balamen. “... live on…” She took one final breath before she closed her eyes. Balamen gritted her teeth and hugged Amalay tighter before the wizard was no longer visible. In a flash of blue light, Amalay was gone. The sudden loss of weight made Balaamen almost loose balance but she caught herself on her hands. She stayed kneeling in front of the pedestal, hunched over as her shoulders shook with her cries of grief. 

Nexicho and Ejulta bowed their heads, letting tears fall. Balaamen’s crying was the only one heard for a long while until her cries slowly went away and only left tears. Balaamen squeezed her eyes shut before she looked to the Jewel of Maru on the ground. With a deep breath and wiping tears away, she grabbed the Jewel and stood up. “Ejulta…” she said with a neutral expression. The said man stood up straight out of surprise as Balamen continued, “Go tell the other Naguals to prepare for the Days of Mourning.”

Ejulta opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Instead, he bowed and shapeshifted into a tapir before running down the hallway. 

Nexicho was left asking, “And then what do we do after? Pretend as if nothing has happened?”

“No,” Balaamen responded as she placed the Jewel of Maru on the pedestal. It began to hover midair. “The Jewel is very powerful, and so are many of our people’s treasures. We must make sure they all remain safe, including our culture, our way of life.” Balaamen closed her eyes and held a hand out palm facing down. From the base of a pedestal, beneath a crack, a stem grew. It stopped at only a foot tall but let a small bud grow before revealing a blooming marigold. “We may not be able to assist wizards anymore, but just like Amalay said,” She turned to face Nexicho, “Protect all living things… for that is the Nagual Way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N: Usually I have something snarky to say off my first chapter but wow I started pretty dramatic. Whelp I had to set the tone of this story somehow, right? Maybe this prologue can give some sort of…. Clue… to something in the future of the story. What can I say, I love making connections. Let’s get to the fun facts!
> 
> Fun Fact:
> 
> 600 years: The story starts 600 years before the present story, the same estimated amount of time between the fabled disappearance of the Maya people of Chichen Itza and the year the Spanish Conquistadors first made it to the Yucatan. 
> 
> Balaamen: Is a play on the Maya naming system according to the Calander day signs (which I’m still trying to figure out lol). Balaam is Jaguar in [Yucatec?] Maya language and ‘Men’ is one of my birthday date signs.
> 
> “By Chaac’s scales…”: Is a reference to the Maya Rain God Chaac who is often depicted with reptilian or amphibian qualities.
> 
> Nexicho and Ejutla: Named after two Zapotec cities
> 
> Tezca: Amalay is featured alongside a dark Maruvian wizard in the stone mural in the “Sceptor of Night” episode, so I gave him the name Tezca, short for Tezcatlipoca. One of the Aztec (Mexica) deities known as a dark trickster.
> 
> The Spell and Naguals: It’s written in Nauhatl, the language of the Mexica, except for the italicized word WAY. It’s the name of the Maya Glyph for Nagual, which also can be used for the word Essence. Certain scholars have found links between these mythological shapeshifting creatures and the Maya people’s perception of self. So yes, I made a pun, ahahah. More of that will be explored in the story as well as how Mesoamerican cultures viewed the heart in ways not only pertaining to sacrificial rituals.
> 
> WHELP! That’s just the prologue. Let’s pray I get the first official chapter within the next two weeks lol. I’m KikaKatTIOI, peace out!!


	2. A Jungle of Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N: Yeah, finally the first official chapter!!! And the story’s cover to go along with it. I'll fix the size later I promise, sorry it's so big XD. No waiting, let’s get right on it!
> 
> (Translation)

There are many paths one can take. For Esteban, that one path was the only way. And not only a metaphorical path. Somehow it involved an evil witch as well as her odd but equally malevolent teacher through a dense trail in the jungle.

Esteban wasn’t built for these long travels, or at least used to it. In no way was this because of age. 57 years old and yet strong enough to almost topple over a parade float. Height maybe since being 1.9 meters tall caused him to hit almost every single branch as they walked through the dense grove. Esteban looked down at his clothes. His wine coat and white trousers getting dirty the deeper they went, black boots caked in mud. Not the most ideal clothing for a trek through the jungle, though he didn’t have much time to figure anything else out when leaving Avalor City.

Esteban stopped and looked back from where they came from. Xotep, a volcano with an unusual blue tint to its earthy surface was peaking out of the canopy of trees far behind them. Yes, they had just left that place, though Esteban imagined what was on the other side. Towards the ocean, at the bottom of a large mountain along a coastline, was the beautiful city of Avalor.

His home...

Looking back distracted Esteban enough that he took a misstep. If Esteban didn’t have his silver staff with an obsidian lightning-shaped tip to support him, he would have fallen face-first to the muddy ground. Esteban sighed in relief but quickly looked up at the other two in his party. 

Ash and Zopilote had gotten farther ahead on the narrow path, only stopping to look back when they heard Esteban trip on his own feet. “At this rate, we’ll never reach the other hideout in time,” Zopilote said annoyed, stomping a taloned foot on the ground as his feathered cape seemed to bristle in reaction. 

Ash brushed off a leaf that had fallen on her white hair tied back with a clip as she said, “Well if time was an issue, why take us the long way around the jungle to Los Garras?"

Zopilote pointed a grey and wrinkled finger towards a dense part of the foliage along their path. “Creatures lurk in there, and you know that.”

Ash huffed as she pulled out her tamborita from the holster strapped to the belt around her hip. She brushed her fingers on the intricate silver designs of the instrument-like weapon as she smirked, “So we bump into a stray gnoblin here and or a cursed spirit there. We can take them easily, Master.”

“There is more to this land then gnoblins and spirits. I stayed near that volcano all these years for a reason.”

Esteban heard every word, getting a little spooked at the idea of dangerous creatures. He looked around nervously, taking a couple steps forward to catch up with Ash and Zopilote. But once again looking up didn’t help and his foot caught a tree root poking out of the ground. The swift jerk motion caused him to fall quicker then he could use his staff to stay up. And worse, he fell right into the muddiest part of the path. He immediately raised his head to wipe the mud from off his eyes so that he could see. Then he sat upon his knees to look down at his coat stained with mud. “Ugh! Belgh!” he began by spitting out the mud that got into his mouth before continuing, “Could you have not chosen maybe an actual road instead of a muddy hiking trail?”

With a roll of her eyes, Ash put her tamborita back in its holster as she said, “It’s just mud, it’s not that bad.” She motioned to the bottom of her white dress with the black feather designs that matched her sleeves and the owl design out of feathers on her chest. There were mud stains but she didn’t seem all that phased by it compared to Esteban. “You can wash it off when we get to Los Garras.”

Esteban shook his head and waved a finger as he used his staff to help him stand up again. “No, no. This is my only pair of clothes. The longer these stains stay on, the harder they come off.”

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this right now,” Zopilote muttered as he pulled down on his black braids in frustration. Then his eyes shifted around nervously before he dropped his hands to say aloud, “All right. We’ve wasted enough time as it is, so if you insist on getting yourself cleaned there’s a stream several meters in that direction.” He pointed to the right side of the path where the jungle seemed less dense. “Walk a straight line there and back, and be quick.”

Still, the idea of washing his clothes in a stream made Esteban cringe, “Anything else cleaner than a river you can suggest?”

Now Ash was just as annoyed as Zopilote, but she quickly thought of something to get this end quick. She smirked and said, “I’d say a well in the nearest village… that is if you want to get caught by the Avaloran Guard, ex-Chancellor?”

Esteban was silent and almost emotionless. Except for the slight twitch in his left eye. Then he stormed off down in the direction Zopilote pointed to. Zopilote looked at Ash and said, “I’ll remember that for next time.” Suddenly, he burst into glowing purple bird glyphs before he took the form of a buzzard. He flew to the nearest tree and landed on the branch to look down at Ash. “I’ll need to scout the area to make sure we’re not being followed. Stay here so that High Maintenance doesn’t get lost.”

“What?” Ash asked as Zopilote took off into the sky. Even though he was already flying far out of earshot, Ash continued to call out, “What do you mean by that? Who could possibly track us this far?”

At a quiet stream where trees and rocks lined the sandy bank, Esteban burst out of the tree line with his face flushed in anger. “That woman! Thinks she’s so--” He held his staff over his head as if wanting to throw it across the stream. He didn’t notice the spark of green light, like a small match being lit, come from the tip of his staff before fading away. Esteban was distracted by his reflection in the water. His face still speckled with mud and almost the entire front of his coat covered in it.

He was reminded of why he came down to the stream in the first place. He sighed and just laid his staff against a giant boulder next to him. He quickly unbuttoned his muddy coat, showing off his white long sleeve underneath, before kneeling at the edge of the water to wash off the mud. The silence around him though allowed him to still wander in his thoughts again.

Esteban wasn’t going to let Ash get to him, they barely even knew each other. Though her ex-husband may have been Esteban’s childhood friend, he knew Victor well enough that he told her their story but twisted it up somehow. Without realizing, Esteban began to rub on the yellow embroidery of his coat where there were no stains. His thoughts took over. Yes. That sounded like Victor Delgado. Twisting words to deceive everyone around him. Esteban smirked when he remembered the day Victor’s words could no longer save him. Oh, the look on Victor’s face when he climbed back over that wall only to be met with almost all of Avalor City and Elena--

Esteban nearly dropped his coat to be completely submerged into the stream. He just froze in place as his thoughts changed and his smirk replaced with a deep frown. 

He immediately pictured Avalor City’s cobblestone streets and adobe homes and shops. Flowers growing from flower pots hung on almost every window sill. The people on the balconies of their homes waving a good day to those passing by below. At the port, ships from around the world bringing crates full of goods to trade. And that was just the city.

On a large outcrop of rock across a waterfall, sat a palace of yellow stone. Dome-shaped roofs decorated with gold and sea green tile. Hallways and stairs lead to different floors and rooms. All filled with carefully crafted furniture and walls decorated to the brim with portraits. The lavish life of royalty. But that’s not what tugged on Esteban’s heartstrings.

His family, or as everyone knew them as, the Royal family. Their story was just as popular.

How the sorceress Shuriki took over after taking the life of the King and Queen while the Royal Wizard put the rest of the royals safely in an enchanted painting. But the odds of Shuriki ruling forever were broken on that same day when she attempted to kill the eldest princess, Elena. It turned out the amulet the 16-year-old wore was enchanted, protecting her inside the gem until a princess with a true heart could release her.

Though it took 41 years, it’s safe to say that story did have that happy ending. With Elena being freed, along with her taking down Shuriki and the royal family being released from the painting. For the last few years, Avalor had been ruled fairly under the crown princess herself along with those of her family who remained. Her abuelos, Francisco and Lucia, her eleven-year-old sister, Isabel, and her cousin, Esteban himself. One big happy family, everything should have been fine, correct?

Well, it didn’t last long for Esteban. Once it was revealed he had helped Shuriki sneak into Avalor all those years ago, it was over. He would have served his sentence to Soledad Island the Council gave him if he hadn’t escaped with the Delgados. And that was just the beginning of this nightmare. Ash had shown how far she’d go for power by turning Victor to stone and leaving her daughter, Carla behind. Esteban didn’t want to risk challenging her but because he had stuck around long enough he ended up falling into a well full of magic. Now Esteban had magic that could possibly match Elena’s powers. Powers he didn’t want at all.

Esteban continued finishing up cleaning his coat, with barely any effort this time. Last thing he wanted was for anyone to get hurt, and Shuriki was the one to break that part of their deal. And he had done everything he could as Chancellor since then to keep things from falling apart. From making Avalor stay prosperous under Shuriki to never leaving his family’s side since their return. But it wasn’t enough to keep his family from casting him out, and a part of him knew that. It’s why he kept his deal a secret. He knew it was the wrong choice, but that was the problem. There wasn’t any other choice, right?. And he was faced with the same problem by escaping with Ash. What else could he do… right?

Esteban was buried so deep in his thoughts, he didn’t realize he wasn’t alone. In a tree across the river, was a figure shrouded by the shadows of the leaves. The person did well to hide among the branches as they balanced themselves perfectly on a thicker one. Of the rays of sunlight that breached the canopy of leaves, only one managed to cast on brown eyes staring directly at the man across the river.

Their right hand reached for something strapped to their back. They pulled out a long stick and held it high over their head. Not enough to breach the shelter of leaves but enough for some sunlight to reveal it to be a spear. The obsidian arrowhead recently sharpened.

The person slowly angled their arm, the spear held horizontally and level with their cheek. The weapon was aimed at where Esteban kneeled. Just as the figure took a deep breath and pulled their arm back, they stopped. Brown eyes shifted left as something came flying gently through leaves. Something small and fragile. Orange and black and frantically fluttering.

“Papalotl ( **Butterfly** ),” the person whispered as a monarch butterfly land on the arrowhead. They made no move to drop the aim of their weapon, but they did watch with a fixed gaze as the small insect no longer flapped its wings so quickly. It was calm with their antennas not even twitching in the slightest. They slowly dropped the aim of their weapon, no intent to move the bug from its resting spot. When the figure held the spear tip in front of them, that’s when the insect flew away. It flew from the tree and across the small creek. 

By then, Esteban had finished cleaning his coat and was putting it back on. As soon as he grabbed his staff resting on the boulder, the monarch landed on the obsidian tip. Esteban caught a quick look at the small bug before he dropped the staff out of shock. The little insect flew in the air but hovered nearby as Esteban recovered quickly and looked around in embarrassment. Remembering he was all alone, Esteban bent down quickly to grab his staff and with the other hand, he fixed his ascot back in place. “It’s just a bug… nothing to get scared over.” 

The Butterfly continued to fly close to Esteban and in return, he would shoo it away. The stranger in the trees rolled their eyes and whispered, “Xoxotl ( **Moron** ).”

Soon, the butterfly managed to land again on the tip of his staff. Esteban was about to brush it off but stopped short in noticing how relaxed the small creature was. It made him realize something, so he looked curiously at it with a raised eyebrow. “A little too early in the season for you, don’t you think?” He raised the tip so that it was eye level to him. “Dia de Los Muertos is not for another few months.” But of course, the monarch made no response. It didn’t even move. Suddenly, Esteban frowned when a quick passing thought crossed his mind. “Or you’re separated from your group. On your own. Like me.”

This caused the figure in the trees to lean in closer, head tilted as they raised an eyebrow. A small breeze caused the little Monarch to leave it’s resting spot again, this time letting the breeze dictate its direction. Esteban watched it go before a snap from across the stream caused him once again to jump out of fear. He managed to catch a glimpse of a large animal run through the foliage, a spotted tail being the only thing Esteban saw clearly before it disappeared altogether.

Esteban gulped and took a step back. Zopilote’s words about dangerous creatures lurking around quickly came back to him and he turned around in a hurry to get back to Ash and Zopilote.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N: Probably the most difficult chapter I’ve written in a long time. There is so much analysis into Esteban’s thoughts behind his actions. I had to even go back and listen to a couple of the Prodcast Princess’s episode reviews just to be able to find a way to summarize it all. Esteban why are you so COMPLICATED?!? XD And speaking of summary, I know for EoA readers the story recap in the middle seems unnecessary but I’ve found my followers from previous fics follow me into new fics and aren't familiar with the show. Though my hope is I did a good job lol. 
> 
> Fun Facts:
> 
> 1) Considering EoA is based on Latin American cultures and a good portion of the fandom is Latin American, I’d thought I'd write using the metric system instead of the U.S metric system. 
> 
> 2) If you know me well enough, I like to get inspiration from my favorite films. The 3rd quarter is in reference to Avatar, specifically Neyteri first seeing Jake in the jungle.  
>    
> 3) This is more of a tease than a fact but did anyone catch the similarity between Zopilote’s transformation and the Naguals from the Prologue?
> 
> More soon. I’m KikaKatTIOI, peace out!!


	3. Little Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might change the updates to weekdays, just heads up!

A couple of days in Las Garras without having started training so far had given Esteban time to adjust. Adjust as well as he could considering he was living in a cave now. Specifically, a system of tunnels within a mountain that was shaped and curved into three points like bird talons. The stalactites and stalagmites within the tunnels were equally as sharp and as a fitting place to live for someone like Zopilote.

The birdman would sometimes keep himself to his nest on a high rock ledge in the main cave. Ash and Esteban took those times to make space for themselves. They had nothing at first, but whenever Zopilote left Las Garras he’d come back with the basic necessities for Ash and Esteban. The birdman even managed to find some old mattresses. Esteban didn’t complain at first considering he had feathered bedding and not rocky ground like he had the first night. 

But the more items brought it in, Esteban had to ask where Zopilote got them from. “Charity,” Zopilote said with a smile as if he were delivering the punchline to a joke. Unlike Ash, who gave a small chuckle, Esteban never laughed. He may have done some sleight of hand tricks along with Victor when they were younger, but they never went as far as to steal. All Esteban could do was try and keep the guilt down and tell himself he wasn’t directly involved. He was already on Avalor’s most wanted. He didn’t want to add thievery to the list. He didn’t want to break any chance of going back home.

Sitting up on the old mattress, Esteban looked around the little cave he tried to turn into his temporary room. Then he eyed a round wooden bin he used to store the few items he had. A hairbrush and toothbrush. No mustache comb or anything else. Yes, temporary. There was no way he could live like this. Esteban stood up and grabbed his clothes he had folded neatly in the corner of the room, changing into those and out of the linen pants he slept in at night. Then he used the hairbrush to try and bring the part of his hair that curled up back down to how he always had it before he fell into the magic well. 

Once he successfully did so, Esteban felt a little more confident and ready for the day. This time, this time for sure. He made his way out of his room and down a tunnel into the main cave. Looking up at the ledge where Zopilote would roost, Esteban didn’t spy the birdman. Perfect. He looked across the large cave, seeing sunlight peak around the corner of a rock wall. The exit. Today was the day, Esteban told himself. He was going to get out of this place.

He didn’t want to be affiliated with Ash and Zopilote, and best to do so was to avoid any sort of magical training before they got started with him. That’s the only reason they needed him. And to use him against his family. No, he just couldn’t let that happen. Without even checking if Ash was still around, Esteban began to march across the main cave towards the exit.

He could never hurt his family. He loved them too much, and missed them even more so. Abuelo’s wise words and songs, Abuela’s overbearing affection and cooking, Isabel’s passionate rambles about her latest inventions. Even Elena’s unbeatable optimism would make Esteban’s day. Would Elena ever be able to be optimistic around him again?

That got Esteban to freeze in place just before he could round the corner. “Argh!” He growled before he facepalmed. This always happened. He would have enough of this mountain and the malevolent people he was surrounded by, making him work up the courage to start walking out. He always thought if he could just try and talk to his family one more time. To try and convince them that he did what he thought was best back then. That he wanted to avoid trouble and not start it, then perhaps they could let him come back.

And then he was reminded by how hurt his family was. Did he have a chance? After all, Elena was ready to send him off to an island to live in solitary. Ash and Zopilote weren’t the best people, but better than surviving on his own. Once again, he had to admit he was stuck with the two Malvagos because he had nowhere else to go. Just like how they were stuck with him because he had magic from the Well of Takaina.

“Getting cold feet again."

Speaking of which. Esteban turned around just in time to see Ash toss his staff to him. Esteban managed to catch it, after playing a little bit of hot potato with it in his hands. But upon getting a good grip, the contact caused his hair to curl up again. As if he had rubbed his feet on a carpet to create static. He sighed. “It took me ten minutes to comb it down.”

Ash came to stand right in front of him. “You might as well forget about trying since you’ll be holding the staff every day.”

“Every day?” Esteban asked with a raised eyebrow. “How about never?”

Esteban then shoved the staff into her hand, only using enough force that she took a step back. But she didn’t quit. “You can’t deny you have these powers.”

“I’m not denying it. I just don’t have to learn to use them.”

Ash rolled her eyes. “Good luck with that. The Well of Takaina was the source of every magical Maruvian artifact, and they could be very unpredictable in inexperienced hands. So if Elena had trouble trying to control her new magic when she fell in, whose to say you won’t be the same?”

Esteban raised his head high and motioned to the cave they were in. “Nothing has floated in the air or come crashing down since I’ve been here. I think it’s obvious I have a better control over my emotions than Elena.”

“Debatable,” Ash said, shoving the staff right back into Esteban’s hands. He leaned back and almost lost his balance but he managed to keep himself on his feet. “And like I said, the well gives different powers. Maybe you don’t make things float like Elena but you might have something more powerful. Such as demolishing the unbreakable for example. And if that’s the case I don’t want this cave coming down on me because of you.”

“If you find me such a hazard, I can leave. I was just about to do so--”

Ash cut in with a smirk, “That would be a sight.”

Esteban’s upper lip twitched before he stepped forward and slammed his staff into the ground in anger. “I can leave when I want!” Once the staff made contact with the hard stone, a flash of green took over and the scene changed before Esteban’s eyes. 

He blinked several times before he realized he was surrounded by lush jungle. The cave and Ash were gone before his eyes. “No, no, no…” Esteban said in a shakey voice. In his frustration, he had teleported himself out of the Las Garras. He had no clue where he was. The only hint being the dense canopy above him. “I’m deep in the jungle,” he said to himself in a panic. Trying to remember from what little instruction he had from Ash so far, Esteban raised his staff and slammed the bottom into the ground. 

When he watched the familiar glowing green glyphs form a circle around his feet, he was sure it would work. But once again he was surrounded by trees, the only difference was that he could see the sky. He tried to see if he could at least spot the curved tips of the mountain past the tree line. But it was nothing but a pure blue sky as far as he could see. He tried one more time, but he teleported once again to a random spot in the jungle. “Of course, the one time I want to leave it works up until leaving me stranded in the middle of nowhere.”

Esteban didn’t want to teleport anymore in fear that it was taking him farther away from the mountain rather than closer. But how could he tell? He noticed a large set of boulders below a low hanging thick branch. That’s when Esteban figured the best way to find out where he was was to climb up a tree and get a good view from the top.

Leaving the staff to rest on the boulders, Esteban climbed up on the boulders with ease and stood on the one at the top of the pile. His height made it easy to grab hold of the thick branch above and hoist himself up. He wrapped both arms and legs around the trunk to keep from sliding off, then he slowly began to stand up on the trunk. He almost lost his balance, his arms flailing about to find his center. But once he became stable he stood tall on the branch with hands to his hips. “That wasn’t so bad.” He heard a sharp crack below him and instantly knew what it was.

He spotted a couple vines hanging far in front of him and he jumped towards them just as the branch broke from the tree. He held onto the vines as he watched the thick branch hit the boulders and split into two. Both pieces rolled down the side of the rock pile and came to stop at their base. Realizing that could have been his back, Esteban sighed relief. And then he heard another snap, this time from above. “Ay, por la mor de--”

He felt himself plummet back first to the ground but a sharp tug on his ankle forced his body to fall face first before he began to swing in midair. Upside down, he watched as he swung away from the boulders and turn so that his face hit the trunk of a tree. “Ow…” he managed to mutter as swung back and forth a few more times then slow to a stop. He was then just left with his one arm hanging limp by his head so that the hand on the other was on his face hold what felt like a bruised nose. When he looked up towards the sky, he saw his left leg tangled in some vines. 

He was stuck a half a meter over the ground upside down in the middle of the jungle probably far from the only people who would bother to get him down. For a few moments he thought he’d be here all night until Esteban’s eyes landed on his staff still resting against the pile of boulders. Maybe he could teleport out of the vines with his staff. But to reach it would mean... “Well this is going to be humiliating…” Esteban looked around to see if anyone was around to see but of course, once again, Esteban remembered he was alone out here. Or so he thought.

As Esteban began swinging himself back and forth to gain momentum, a few small shadows moved among the treeline not too far away. Once Esteban swung far enough, he grabbed a hold of the boulders to keep himself in place in order to reach out and grab the staff. “Phew…” Esteban said, almost breathless.

And then he suddenly heard someone in front of him whisper, “Pssst”

Esteban had a double-take. He wasn’t alone out here? Keeping his hold on the boulders he looked up to see where the whisper came from. There was no one on the other side of the rock pile. So where did it come from? “In here.” Esteban looked down and found himself staring at a pair of brown eyes coming from a small space between the boulders. “Are there any Malvagos here?”

“W-what?” Esteban asked without thinking since he was still trying to process there was someone, a child given the pitch of the voice, this deep in the jungle.

“Malvagos? You know. Bad wizards.”

Esteban looked right to the top of the trees, imagining the mountain where Ash and Zopilote would be in. “No,” Esteban answered.

Without warning the child burst out of hiding, going face to face with Esteban and yelling, “Kuali!”  **(Good!)**

“AH!” Esteban shouted in surprise, his shock making him drop his staff and lose his grip on the boulder before swinging back face first into the tree once again. “Argh….” Esteban growled as he pushed away from the tree and held his face. If he hadn’t formed a bruise from earlier he was definitely feeling one form on his nose now. “Oh, my beautiful face….” he muttered.

“I told you,” said the child.

Esteban looked towards the child, seeing a boy who looked around 6 years of age with russet-brown skin. He wore a forest green loincloth front to back on top of cloth wrapped around his hips. His short, fluffy dark brown hair bounced along with his excitement. His jade earrings glistened in the sun as he jumped out of hiding within the boulders and onto the grass. He gave Esteban a toothy grin before he looked back to the boulders, “I told you. He’s good.”

Another boy about 8 years old with short, thin brown hair poked his head out and hissed, “We shouldn’t even be talking to him.”

“We’re going to get in trouble,” came another small voice from within the hiding spot. 

“Well he’s not Malvago, so it’s fine,” the first boy said motioning to Esteban. “And we can’t leave him like this.”

The second boy seemed to think before someone else began to climb out of the cluster of boulders. A girl around ten wearing a simple white dress with blue rope tied around her waist and a sea shell hanging down the center. She got down, brushed aside her shoulder-length brown hair, and looked back at the boy in hiding. “He does have a point.” 

The boy in hiding muttered something before climbing out to reveal he too wore the same as the first boy except his wrap around his hips was a deep red. As Esteban watched them talk, he wondered who in the Ever Realm would let their kids explore the jungle alone… especially dressed like that.

“What if he tells someone?” The second boy asked.

“I’m sure he won’t tell anyone if we help him,” the first boy said before turning to Esteban to ask him, “Will you?”

Esteban blinked and asked, “Tell who what?”

“Wow…” The girl gasped as she reached down and grabbed Esteban’s staff. She held the tip close to her face to observe the detail. “Look at his spear. It’s very odd-looking.”

The first boy grabbed it from her hand and exclaimed, “Maybe we can use it to get him down!” The boy looked up at the rope, aimed with one eye closed, and then swung Esteban’s staff. He tried to cut the line with the sharp tip, but instead, his aim was too low and he hit Esteban in the shin with a loud THWAK! “OW!” Esteban yelled.

“Oops, sorry. Let me try again.”

Esteban threw his hands out in front of him and yelled, “Wait no—!“ And the boy tried again. But his aim for some reason was lower, hitting Esteban in the stomach. “Hold on--!” Esteban tried to say as he held his stomach in pain. “STOP!” Esteban managed to yell before he was hit in the chest.

“That’s not gonna work,” The second boy said angrily, grabbing the staff from the smaller boy. “Change and use your teeth to—“

“I’VE got this!” Esteban hissed and managed to reach far enough to swipe the staff away. He wasn’t going to wait and question anything anymore. Especially if it meant letting these children hit him like a piñata again. Esteban held his staff upside down to him so that the bottom touched the ground. He raised it up and then slammed it into the ground so that the scene changed before him. 

For just one second, Esteban felt relief seeing he was right side up because the trees were growing towards the sky above him. The next second though he realized he was in midair, with the vines still tangled around his leg. Gravity did the rest. He felt himself plummet again and when the vines went taught, he swung so that his face hit the tree for the third time that day. 

The littlest boy fell on his back and held his stomach as he laughed. He managed to say between spurts of laughter, “That was... that was so funny!!” The girl almost doubled over in laughter but stayed on her feet. 

It was the second boy who looked around nervously. “He did magic. What if he is Malvago?”

The little boy managed to stop laughing hard enough to say, “Would a Malvago do something funny? Xixo!  **(It’s fine!)** I’ll show you.”

As soon as he hit the tree again, Esteban had dropped his staff and had his hands to his face feeling a nice swell form on his forehead. But when he finally moved them away to pay attention to the children he noticed the little boy had disappeared. He looked around to see where he went and then noticed the other boy and girl looking up. Before he could see what they were looking at, the vines gave away and he fell to the ground. His head hit the dirt first before the rest of his body followed suit. He was left there moaning in pain as the sky above him spun. 

He barely noticed the little boy come down from the tree until his vision cleared and the boy came to stand right over him. Esteban’s staff was in his hands. “Are you ok, tlakatl?”

Not bothering to ask what that meant, Esteban slowly sat up, winced, and said sarcastically, “If getting slammed into a tree and falling to the ground makes one stronger, then yes I’m fine.”

The second boy narrowed his eyes and reached out to grab the younger boy by the arm. “We should go.”

“No,” The younger boy whined as he pulled his arm away, “I don’t want to leave.”

“I don't trust him.”

“But why not?”

Esteban had to hand it to the second boy. Even though it hurt to hear that he was skeptical of Esteban, that boy had good instincts. The smaller boy however made Esteban roll his eyes out of annoyance at his naivety. The kid barely knew him… and yet… he was comfortable around a stranger like him. 

That’s when the weirdest sound Esteban had ever heard rang across the jungle. It wasn’t coming from close by but it was loud enough to be heard from a distance. It sounded like someone was blowing through a muffled horn over and over again. Whatever it was made the children tense up. “Natzli…” the little boy whispered nervously. 

“Let’s go before we get into trouble,” The girl said as she and the taller boys took off into the trees. The little boy ran around Esteban but stopped short when he realized he still had the staff. “Oh here you go.” He held it out for Esteban, but the man didn’t take it right away. He had been so annoyed with their foolishness earlier that the boy’s continuing kindness towards him made Esteban reach out for the staff slowly. Once Esteban had it in his hands, the little boy said, “And don’t tell anyone, please?” Without even waiting for a reply, the little boy turned and ran after his friends. All three children were gone, heading deeper into the jungle.

Esteban looked around, finding himself alone again. Even though he was happy to be rid of the kids that left him physically scarred, a part of him wished they had stayed. He wanted to see why the younger boy was so trusting of Esteban. Was it just because he made him laugh? There had to be something more.

His thoughts were interrupted by rustling in the trees behind him. Esteban stood up and prepared to run, but in thinking it was the children circling back again he stayed put. But It wasn’t the little boy that walked out of the heavy flora, though. It was Ash with a tired and annoyed look on her face. Her tamborita glowed white in her hands. “You’re a hard man to find, did you know that?” she hissed. “Even with a tracking spell.” She raised her tamborita as the glow disappeared. 

Noticing she had leaves in her hair, Esteban had to ask, “Did you go poking your head in bushes to find me?”

Brushing the leaves off her hair, Ash grumbled, “No. I had to trek through some hard terrain to get here.” Noticing the bruise on his face and small twigs stuck to his coat, she asked, “And what about you? Did you go teleporting yourself into a tree?”

Esteban opened his mouth, ready to explain it wasn’t his fault he was like this. But he stopped short when he realized he was going to mention the children. Last thing he wanted was to say that he ended up getting help from a few kids. Especially since they beat him up unknowingly beforehand with his staff. He knew Ash would only make fun of him for that.

But then there was that thing the little boy said. Not to tell anyone about them. If there was someone who had to keep someone else a secret, it was the boy. Wherever his home was Esteban didn’t want him telling anyone he was here. But the boy asked him. Why? And most importantly, why did he trust Esteban, someone he had never met before, to keep a secret. If only the boy knew how good he was at keeping secrets. 

Esteban recovered quickly and answered with a straight face, “I know better than to go teleporting around not knowing where I’m going. Like you said, my magic is unpredictable.”

“Well, you were paying attention. That will come in handy when training starts.” Esteban wanted to object but he was just too tired to do so. He thought about it anyway and figured there was a point to this training. If he couldn’t teleport out of a tangle of vines then then how could he teleport out of a situation he didn’t want to face? Might as well try it, he guessed. Then Ash added, “Still, doesn’t explain the bruising.”

“Do I have to tell you everything?”

Ash thought of it and then shrugged her shoulders. “Fair enough. Come on. Las Garras is this way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot of facts this time but we get our first encounter with the modern-day Nagual. Not the best one for Esteban, and it won't be the last XD. And most words aren't translated since there will be in-story translations for them later on. And yes, I did give a magical explanation as to why Esteban's hair sticks up, I couldn't resist.
> 
> Fun Facts:  
> 1) Girl's Shell and Boy's earings: Cloths and jewelry were a way to distinguish between class and age groups. Aztec (Mexica) pre-teen girls wore a shell tied to a rope around their waist before they became old enough to marry or do more household chores. Mexica and Maya nobles and royalty regularly wore more jewelry than a commoner.
> 
> 2) Upside down Esteban: One of my favorite Disney films is Brother Bear, and I adore Koda and Kenai's first meeting. So for those who don't already know who the little boy is, I can at least give you this hint on his name and personality ;) 
> 
> More soon. I'm KikaKatTIOI, peace out!


	4. Burn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, things gotta little backed up here.

Purple and green light reflected off the cave walls as Esteban trained against Zopilote. The man teleported away as the birdman shot flaming purple light in his direction. Esteban found himself only a few meters from where he once stood but had to teleport again to avoid another barrage of fire. “Teleporting away all the time isn’t going to win you a fight, Esteban,” Zopilote said to the man as he popped up a couple of meters to his left. “Try something else,” Zopilote ordered before throwing a flame the size of an ollabal. Esteban tried to think of what else to do but what else could teleportation do besides move him around.

When he appeared behind Zopilote, that's when Esteban got an idea. He grabbed the staff with two hands and swung it towards Zopilote’s head. But the Malvago knew he was there. He ducked, letting the staff swing past his head before jumping into a summersault over Esteban. While doing so he grabbed the staff from Esteban’s hands, letting the man stand there wide-eyed. As Zopilote came down to land behind Esteban he kicked the man in the back. Still in shock, Esteban was easily knocked off balance and he fell to his hands and knees. Before he knew it, the obsidian tip of his staff was aimed right at his neck as Zopilote stood over him. “And dead. Again. For the fifth time today.”

Esteban could only narrow his eyes as he grabbed the staff from the top of the hilt and yanked it out of Zopilote’s grasp. As Esteban stood up, Zopilote walked away with hands behind his back as he said, “As I said, if you want to win a fight you can’t keep using the same power over and over again.”

“But that is all I know I have.”

“You’ll feel something different in your magic and when you do, use it.” 

“Shouldn’t we be trying to figure out what other powers I got from the well instead of you being cryptic about how magic works and constantly throwing fire in my direction?”

Zopilote stopped, turned, and brought one hand in front of him with a finger pointing up. “Magic is reactionary, so the only way to figure out what you have is by doing just that.” a small purple flame appeared over his finger like a candle, and with a quick flick, shot it so that it hit Esteban in the knee. 

The man slightly panicked and quickly patted away the flame with his hands. Seeing it left no burn mark on his trousers, Esteban sighed and then asked, “There has to be a less… physical way at least to find out.”

“A week ago you said you were all for learning to fight with magic,” Ash cut in. Zopilote and Esteban looked to see her sitting on a boulder that jutted out at an angle from the ground. “Or are you going to go back to the lame excuse of ‘I’m civil, I’m not cut for battle’” She finished with her fingers up in air quotes and her tone low to try and mimic Esteban's.

The man pressed his lips together. Esteban was still somewhat reluctant to fight with magic, much less learn magic and how to fight. But after what happened last week he realized it wasn’t worth trying to run away from his new abilities. Run away from this place and back home. Esteban’s grip on his staff tightened. No, not home. According to Elena, not anymore. 

Esteban began to march off towards the entrance of the cave. “And where are you going?” Zopilote asked. 

“I need a break,” Esteban answered and then added in a whisper, “From you two.”

Ash called out after him, “Don’t go teleporting to the jungle again because this time I will not go looking for you.”

Esteban smiled and slammed the bottom of his staff to the ground. His next step was on the muddy banks of a river, trees and silence surrounding him. Esteban hoped his staff would take him to the Jungle. After all, during training, he didn’t know exactly where he was going. He just hoped for the best that he wouldn’t get teleported off the cliffside. He didn’t have much of a handle on it yet but looked like he was making progress. “No thanks to that old buzzard.”

As he walked along the river bank, Esteban looked to his right just above the treeline. He spotted the tip of Las Garras and kept a mental note it was in that direction. He didn’t want to get lost again, but he had no intention of getting back any time soon. Especially since the reason he wanted to get out for a while was cause he was reminded of what happened a week ago. Esteban stopped and turned to look down at his reflection in the river.

He still didn’t understand why, but during his first day of training, he was teleported back into the flower garden at the Palace. He knew for sure it wasn’t him since he appeared without his staff and the entire garden was in midair with a gust of wind circling. By the time he realized his cousins were in the garden with him the entire place tipped over almost causing them all to fall off. But when everything righted itself again, Elena was there standing over him. 

Esteban realized this was the doing of Elena’s new magical abilities as soon as she put her crystal scepter in its holster. Her long brown hair tied back came to rest as the wind died down. Everything froze, but the garden remained in the air as her normally red dress remained orange. Elena’s face held back pain as she gave Esteban a serious frown and said his name.

Did this mean that even with everything that happened before she was still willing to talk to him? Esteban jumped to his feet to try and get the first word out but Elena let her feelings known first. Of course, she was saddened and angry, she had every right to feel that way considering his actions lead to the death of her parents. But Esteban tried to make her see that the end result wasn’t what he wanted. He wished there was a way he could go back and fix it, he even said sorry. But when he called her Prima, what Elena said next made him see he was never coming back. 

“As far as I’m concerned, you are no longer familia.”

Once again, Esteban’s fist clench, skin turning almost white. Green sparks emitted from the obsession tip but without his knowledge. He was too busy replaying those words over and over again in his head, just like it had been this entire week. He had been disowned by his own family, they would never give him a chance. Now he had nowhere to go. Even after Elena somehow teleported him back to the caves where Ash and Zopilote were waiting, those two Malvagos could never fill the hole in his heart. He was going to learn to fight with magic, but that was the end of it--

What’s that smell?

Trace of burning wood was what brought Esteban out of his thoughts. He looked but couldn’t spot signs of fire until a low roar behind him made him turn. The sight of green fire engulfing a tree made Esteban jump away from the sight and straight into the middle of the river. Yes, he knew he would only be kneedeep, but that’s where he felt safe at the moment as he watched the fire burn every inch of the tree impossibly fast before embers jumped and started to burn the tree next to it. 

Esteban held the staff in both hands, looking between that and the fire in a panic. Did he do that? If so… how did he do it and why was the fire growing so quickly?

As more and more trees began to burn alongside the riverbank, Esteban stepped back and looked around. He needed to get out of here before he became trapped, but the problem was the wall of green fire blocked his way back to Las Garras. Esteban teleported but found himself again facing the fire. All his magic did was send him a few meters to the left. “Figures.” He tried to run downriver to get around it but the fire grew faster than he could run. 

Suddenly, the water below his feet began to rise. He stopped and watched as a massive amount of water rose into an arch over his head before coming down to douse the flames. “What?” As more water moved on its own, the ground below Esteban’s feet shook. A large rock jutted out of the ground of the muddy bank and hovered over the remaining fire. It crumbled in several pieces, becoming clots of dirt that settled on the branches and cut short the flames. 

Esteban looked around seeing no one. This can’t be all him. What’s causing all this? All these elements being moved around on their finally made Esteban scared enough to run away. In the opposite direction. That’s all Esteban felt he could do. Magic was crazy but this jungle was pure chaos.

He looked down to make sure he wouldn’t trip over anything as he ran through the thick brush of the jungle. In doing so though he started to trip over anyway. Then he heard it. The sound of someone running nearby but hidden within the shadows of the jungle. He looked but could only see a silhouette of something. Was it a person? A low growl confirmed his suspicion. It was a creature. No sooner had he figured it out that the creatures and jump out of the shadows and towards Esteban. The man wasn’t quick enough to react, so all he could feel was him and the creatures rolling into a tunnel before coming to a stop in a clearing. 

Esteban was pinned down but he held his staff up with both hands as he kept the creature on top of him at bay. For a second, he thought he was seeing a Jaquin. Teeth bared and ears folded back. But there was something about it that wasn’t a Jaquin but Esteban couldn’t tell right away. A menacing growl coming deep from its throat was enough for Esteban to stop thinking and instead try and escape.

He got an idea and pushed his left arm up so that the obsidian tip of his staff almost sliced across the creature’s cheek. It was enough for the thing to step back on its hind legs, giving Esteban room to land a swift kick in its chest to force it completely off him. The creatures stumbled back but scrambled quickly back on all fours.

As Esteban sat up, he finally got a better look at his attacker. Like a Jaquin it was feline-like, but its yellow ocre pelt wasn’t as vibrant like a Jaquin and black rosettes took place of a unique pattern. As it began to stalk around Esteban, the man noticed its giant paws were built to land a heavy blow and not lean enough to land after a flight. In fact, it had no wings or tail feathers to fly with. What it did have were scars on its upper arms and chest and a massive burn mark on its lower back. When it stopped to look at Esteban with slitted hazel eyes, the man finally saw the most unusual part. It had hair, human hair. Long and brown growing out of from near the back of its head and it was tied around several times in a bright green ribbon. 

What kind of creature was this?

The animal took the distraction and jumped towards Esteban. On instinct, Esteban held his staff as he crossed his arms in front of him to hopefully shield his face from any damage. But a flash of green came between the two. The impact of the creature hitting whatever it was caused the sound of the clash to echo and for both man and creature to be launched across either side of the clearing.

Esteban felt himself rolled on the ground again and drop his staff. When he finally came to a stop, he let out a moan of pain but forced himself to stand up. He wasn’t going to give this creature another chance to attack him. Using a tree to support him, Esteban looked to the creature across the clearing. It must have gotten hurt badly cause it sat upon shaky front feet and shook its head of delirium. Maybe Esteban could take this moment to grab his staff laying in the middle of the clearing. 

Before he could rush over to grab it though, a bright flash of green and glyphs caught his eye. Esteban stood up straight and gasped. The creature had… changed… and in its place was a woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd thought I'd finally update today cause Onyx Equinox premiers! An anime show based on Mesoamerican myth and culture. Even though I don't officially introduce my characters until the next chapter, I highly give Onyx show a chance. The tone of my story will be lighter than Onyx but culture-wise you can get the feel of where I'm going with this story.  
> Anyway, no fun facts again but we're a little past Dreamcatchers episode and seeing where Esteban's mindset is after THAT! And I'm starting to play around with Esteban's "hidden" abilities as I like to call them. I'll try and update next weekend. Until then I'm KikaKatTIOI, peace out!


	5. Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOOOHH!, I'm excited for you guys to read THIS chapter! It's time to meet some more new faces. And a TON of Fun Facts.

Esteban rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing right.

The wingless Jaquin turned into a short woman with a rounded face, a muscular build, and russet brown skin. As she sat up and reached back to rub her skull in pain, Esteban could see a feathered serpent with glyphs tattooed on her upper left arm. Her right hand clenched her bright green ankle-length skirt weaved with intricate dark green tree designs. The turquoise green flowers of the skirt matched her sleeveless top tied by a bright green ribbon. And just like the creature her ribbon wrapped around her dark brown hair and scars were in the same place.

How did she do that? What is she? A wizard? Wait, Esteban had seen this trick before. With a Malvago. Zopilote.

As soon as Esteban thought of the birdman, the woman gasped and looked down at her hands in shock. When she looked at Esteban, he could easily see the fear in her brown eyes. Something about the way she hunched over and almost shrunk back made Esteban reach a hand out. He wanted to assure her she had nothing to fear from him. 

Then he stopped when he saw her look down. He looked, too, noticing his staff was still there in the middle of the clearing. Immediately the woman’s fear was replaced with a sneer. Now it was Esteban’s turn to be afraid. Was she going to turn back into the non-Jaquin and attack again? He’d rather teleport away before she could do that, so Esteban ran towards the fallen weapon. 

He was only a meter or two away from the staff when the woman bolted to her feet and raised her arm up in an arc as if she were scooping something from midair. At the same time, tree roots burst from below Esteban’s feet. The man froze in panic as the roots wrapped around his arms, legs, and chest several times over. Once they were done moving, Esteban found himself stuck in place with his feet rooted to the ground and arms out like a scarecrow in the middle of a field.

He struggled to wriggle himself out of this trap as he looked at the roots in disbelief, “How… how did this...?” He looked back at the woman who stood up straight as her arm dropped back to rest at her side. Her hand had moved when the roots did, so did she trap him? As the woman held her head high, Esteban couldn’t help but think about Marimonda and look at the woman with narrowed eyes. He really hoped he wasn’t dealing with another crazy sprite with a green thumb.

Bushes rustling nearby caused them both to look just as a white tailed dear and another spotted feline jumped into the space of the clearing. The deer had a tuft of brown growing between its antlers along with a short braid dangling just below the right ear. There was a burn mark on it’s left shoulder and peach colored fur on the legs and underbelly made it look like fire was rising from below it. Their spotted friend had short hair grow from its brow to the back of the skull. What stood out was the two scars across its face with a couple more scars on its legs. The two stopped as soon as they got into the open and looked between Esteban and the woman.

That’s when she spoke for the first time. The words sounded familiar, yet they were so foreign to him that Esteban could only try and guess what she was saying. Her words held strength and authority that matched her tough exterior. She was in command, and the animals knew it. 

The woman pointed a finger down and the roots slowly began to shrink away. As Esteban was let go of the trap he watched the roots sink below ground and leave dirt that had been disturbed. Was he being freed? It couldn’t have been that easy. Then the woman said with tongue sharp, “Aana!” **(Grab him!)**

Not even a second later had the two creatures sprung towards Esteban. In bursts of red and yellow light and glyphs they turned into men and grabbed Esteban by an arm each. He was dragged away so fast that his back hit a tree hard enough to make him yell in surprise and pain. Once again Esteban was trapped and he tried to wriggle free even though the two men pulled back hard on his arms to keep his back pinned to the tree.

Esteban only stopped struggling when a group of animals of diverse kinds jumped out into the clearing from the thick brush. Tamandoas and coatis. Snakes and toucans. All of them suddenly transformed into men and women before Esteban’s eyes. And looking similar and close in height to the woman. Seeing them circle around her made Esteban realize that the woman’s words weren’t the only part that was familiar. 

Esteban looked to the men holding him back. The one on the left was muscular and a little younger than Esteban. Like his spotted animal form, his dark brown hair only grew down the middle and two scars marked his face. Though without fur Esteban saw the left arm tattooed with rings of glyphs and ears pierced with clay yellow beads. He had on a bright yellow short sleeve padded with cotton and a skirt of orange and yellow leather strips with glyphs on them. 

The one who had been a deer before seemed less threatening, almost half Esteban’s age. His hair cut short up top but long in the back to make four braids. Like his friend he wore red earrings in addition to red and white clay beaded necklace. A blood-red cloth wrapped around him several times from below the armpit and stopped at the waist so the end hung like a loincloth with an orange glyph on it. What looked like deerskin was draped around him like a skirt and tied at the middle. 

Esteban looked around again. The way they all dressed, he swore he had at least read about them somewhere. It was on the tip of his tongue but stopped short when the woman bent down and grabbed his staff from the ground. She inspected it with brow furrowed, sliding her finger from the end to the tip and carefully avoiding any cuts from the obsidian. When she looked up at Esteban, her eyes narrowed and her lips tightened. She spun the staff and slammed the bottom on the ground. She spoke again and for once Esteban understood her, “How did you come across such magic?”

The way the woman spoke with words revealing an accent left Esteban to wonder where they all were from. Delaying on answering though made the muscular man reach to a holster on his back that Esteban didn’t notice earlier. He pulled out a flat stone club painted with glyphs and studded with obsidian blades. “Answer the question, Malvago,” he hissed as he held the weapon to Esteban’s throat.

Esteban gulped. These people were not hesitating on hurting him. They thought he was Malvago, right? So the only way to get out of this alive was to convince them that he wasn’t a threat. Esteban stammered, “Stop-stop! I’m not Malvago.”

Everyone eyed him in suspicion as the woman scuffed and said, “It doesn’t matter whether you hold a staff or a tamborita. Your intentions to set the jungle on fire are clear.”

“Set the jungle on fire?” Esteban repeated.

“Yes, the fire we had to put out,” the woman said with a roll of her eye as she pointed behind her to the treetops. 

Esteban looked to see smoke rising but dissipating in the distance. The same place his magic set the blaze. Had they seen it all? And by putting it out did that mean they were the ones making the earth and water move? Like the woman had done with the roots-- wait they think he did that on purpose? Esteban leaned forward but stopped short as he felt volcanic glass touch his neck. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to burn down anything,” he managed to say.

The woman crossed her arms but kept a hold of his staff. “And we don’t believe you, Malvago.”

Esteban was getting real tired of that word. He was NOT going to let himself be grouped with people like Ash and Zopilote. In fact, weren’t these guys Malvagos? With their magic like Zopilote. Esteban sneered and almost yelled, “I’m not the Malvago here. I don’t even know how magic works. If I did, I would know what spell you used.”

That got everyone to look at each other and some, for some reason, began to snicker. Even the woman, having been absolutely stoic this whole time, let a half-smile show as she placed a hand on her hip and asked, “Oh really? A spell? To do what exactly?”

“To change into that non-jaquin thing. Your transformation magic. And making rocks fly.”

The woman’s smile disappeared and her eyes widened. Everyone else however burst into laughter. Some spoke in their unknown language but Esteban managed to hear some say, “Transformation magic? What is he even saying?” “Making rocks fly, he says. Weak excuses.” “A non-jaquin. He must be joking!”

Esteban blinked several times and leaned back. Are they mocking him, or are they trying to play dumb? Esteban stammered. “You-you’re all Malvagos. I saw you all were animals. You-you think i’m playing you, but you’re all playing me!”

The woman stood straight and held the staff in both hands. Her head tilted as she observed the weapon again. Then she walked closer to Esteban, almost going face to face with him. The man with the stone weapon though pulled Esteban’s arm back farther to double-check Esteban couldn’t get free with the woman near. She asked Esteban, “If we were to say we weren’t human, what else do you think we can be?”

Shaking his head in confusion, Esteban asked in return. “Not human. What does that mean?”

Her jaw dropped. “You… you really don’t know?”

“Ay, por la mor de--” Esteban began but stopped when he knew getting annoyed wasn’t going to help him out of this situation. “Look, this week has been rough without losing feeling in my arm and have a weapon to my neck. So please get to your point because I have no idea as to what you’re talking about and why I’m supposed to know.”

Esteban’s outburst was followed by the clearing going quiet and all the strangers looking to the woman for a response. But even the woman seemed to have no idea what to do next. All she did was look Esteban in the eye, and all he could do was wait by doing the same. There was something about the way she looked at him, studied him. It wasn’t just confusion. Was that curiosity? Because of that, he himself looked at her the same way.

Finally, the woman stepped back and turned around, but Esteban managed to catch the lump in her throat as she swallowed hard out of nervousness. She only stopped to say, “Kaua.” **(Release him)**

The man with the weapon gasped before saying, “Tlein ipamp?” **(Why?)**

The woman responded. “He said ‘transformation magic’ and ‘non-jaquin thing’ without blinking an eye and he can’t think of one creature to guess in our place. If he was Malvago, he wouldn’t play himself that dumb.” Esteban deadpanned. The one time he didn’t have to lie his way out of a problem and apparently it was because he was an idiot to these people. 

Esteban felt the pressure on his right arm ease and he watched the younger deer man step back away from Esteban though still give him a raised eyebrow. Thinking he was being let go, Esteban looked to the man who was busy asking the woman something in a questioning tone. She repeated the same thing again but more firm this time. Finally, the man holstered his weapon and let Esteban go. 

As Esteban rubbed his wrists and fixed the cuffs of his sleeve, the muscular man asked, “So why do you have such magic and are using it to burn down those trees.”

Tired of these blatant accusations, Esteban said with a twing of irritation in his voice, “It was an accident. I don’t know how I started the fire.”

“You don’t know?” the younger man asked, crossing his arms.

“No, I don’t. I’m new to magic, all right. I don’t know how any of this works so please excuse me if I burn down a few measly trees.”

The strangers began to whisper among themselves now, often glancing at Esteban with disgust. What did he say? The woman whipped her head around hearing his words, but she was angry, not disgusted. She then marched to him and stopped just a few meters away to point his staff up so that the tip was a centimeter from his nose. “A few trees are more important to us than you think. So if you’re learning magic, don’t go casting spells around like some ignorant child.”

Esteban’s cheeks almost flushed in embarrassment but quickly he recuperated by grabbing the staff just at the top of the hilt and yanking it out of the woman’s hold. He leaned forward so that he could be eye level and give her a sneer. “I know better than any child.”

“Oh, I’d hate to see what actual children think of you,” The woman said with a scuff.

“You won’t have to see anything, because I am leaving.” 

Esteban tried to walk around the woman but she grabbed hold of the shoulders of his coat so quick and strong that Esteban almost stumbled and was forced to stop and turn her way. “You can’t leave, you haven’t even explained how you got your magic.”

“I keep telling you, i'm not a Malvago,” Esteban hissed as he yanked his arm away so that the woman let go.

She growled back, “Malvago or not. We got to make sure you don’t go back to wherever you came from telling people about what you saw here today.”

“And why worry about that. Because you’re the Malvagos?”

“We are not Malvagos!” She yelled in defense.

“So what are you?”

“We’re… we can’t…” As she stammered, Esteban looked around. Everyone feared what she would say next. They didn’t want her to answer. Which means… 

Esteban chuckled as he realized that even though he was being labeled an idiot, someone else here messed up big time. “Well if none of you wanted to be seen, then whose fault is that’s not the case now?”

Almost everyone’s mouth went open in an O shape as some tried to hide it with their hands and look away. The younger man even bit his lip to keep from laughing as the woman’s face flushed and she bit her lip. She walked right into that trap.

She looked at Esteban as he gave a victorious smirk. Her embarrassment went away completely as her left hand clenched into a fist and she said in a dark tone, “You’re not coming with us easy, are you?” Esteban frowned. Well, he walked right into this one, too. “Good,” she finished before she swung her fist back and then forward. Right into Esteban’s face. Lights out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I just really like to give Esteban a hard time, don't I? Well that's what happens when he confuses shapeshifters with Malvagos. XD. Anyway, I'm going to go straight into fun facts because it's A LOT!
> 
> Fun Facts:  
> Mazateikault - A name Nahuatl name I came up with. He wears a wrap-around loincloth worn by Yucatec Maya Warriors since their clothing can mix between casual and battle armor. To keep the deer theme he wears a Late Classic Maya deerskin skirt and the Maya glyphs for "fire deer" are sewn in orange. His tattoos have the fire glyphs around his wrists.
> 
> Tepeyacan - A possible Zapotec/Mixtec name. For his rough personality, I gave him a Mexica (Aztec) military garment, an Ehuatl, since the Mexica had strong military views compared to other groups. Each strip of the skirt has "earth" sewn in. We've seen his weapon before in the prologue but his macuahuilt is made of stone from his earth powers. The glyphs on it translate to "This sword belongs to Tepeyacan". His tattoos have the show's version of the Xicalcoliuhqui, the swirl motif we see throughout Mesoamerican temples. He also has the glyph for "warrior" tattooed on his upper arm.
> 
> Zyanya - A Zapotec name I chose for her WAY before Onyx Equinox came out, so it's pure coincidence she shares the name with my favorite Onyx character. She wears Late Classic Maya wrap around skirt and top. The tree and flower designs are inspired by the doors of Castillo Viejo temple in Chichen Itza. Her color scheme, especially the turquoise, are colors that represent life in Mesoamerican cultures. Her tattoo is a Sunbird design seen in Realm of the Jaquins. Sunbirds take inspiration from feathered serpant gods throughout Mesoamerican mythology. The glyphs for "flower" and "jaguar" are designed within the sunbird. 
> 
> All glyphs I use are Maya, which in the show have been used to describe "Ancient Maruvian"
> 
> I'll be back in two weeks, hopefully, to update on what happens after you get knocked out by a Nagual XD. I'm KikaKatTIOI, peace out!


	6. Interrogation or Introduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> READ TO THE END NOTE I GOT AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT AND IT INVOLVES.... a hiatus....

Esteban’s eyes fluttered open to see darkness and he immediately felt a dull pain on the bridge of his nose. He put a hand to his nose, checking for any injury. When his hand felt nothing off, he wondered why it still hurt. And why did it feel like he was lying on grass?

“He’s awake,” He heard someone say and Esteban looked around. The darkness was caused by the stone walls that surrounded him. To the right was one wall carved to look like prison cell doors. Two silhouettes stood guard just on the other side. “Oh no,” He gasped. Remembering the last time that he was imprisoned, Esteban sat up in a panic. But then he recognized the two guardsmen.

It was the scar-faced man and his younger companion with the deerskin. It all came rushing back to Esteban now. The fire, the strangers, their magic. For a moment, Esteban felt relief he wasn’t locked up at the Palace again and even slightly annoyed that had been knocked unconscious by the woman. But why was he trapped again? And how was it night already? “I’ll go prepare them,” said the young man as he walked away from the stone cell doors. 

The other man stepped back from the doors and raised his hands up. As he lowered them, the walls around Esteban collapsed into the ground. Esteban scrambled to his feet as he watched the rocks sink into the earth, leaving no trace that anything but the grass had been there. “I still think we should call Council,” the older man said as he marched towards Esteban and grabbed him by the shoulder. 

As Esteban was shoved forward, the younger one called back, “Biso’s orders. So play nice.”

The scar-faced man rolled his eyes and pulled out his weapon. “Walk,” he ordered. 

The moonlight only gave Esteban view of the clearing they were in… but they were now on a hillside. “Where am I?”

“I said walk,” the man ordered again, this time pressing the un-studded tip of his weapon into the small of Esteban’s back. Esteban complied, but only because he would have to see where he was if this guy wasn’t going to give him answers. In silence, the two walked through a dense grove of trees until they came to open space. 

Even though they were still on a hillside the ground beneath Esteban became flat and slowly turned from grassy to stone. The glow of dwellings at the foot of the hill they were on was the only indication that this is where the people lived. There was nothing but shadows from there but the silhouette of an unfamiliar mountain on the other side showed he was nowhere near Las Garras. Esteban slowled down to ask, “How far are we from--”

“No speaking until you meet The Itz’at,” the man interrupted as he pushed Esteban forward again.

“Meet the who--wait, I can’t stay!” 

“If you want to leave, you’ll have to talk with him first.” Without waiting for Esteban’s reply the man forced him to pick up the pace, bringing him to a narrows set of stairs on an incline built of stone. Once on level ground again, Esteban could see a few dwellings on his right and even up another incline. But he was then distracted by what was coming up on his left. A crowd of people. Esteban panicked.

He may not know who these people are or if he was within the boundaries of Avalor anymore, but even if they made a point to hide from the world that didn’t mean they didn’t know what was going on. Including the fact that he was on Avalor’s most wanted list. As he was pushed towards the crowd, Esteban wondered if he should flee before anyone recognized him. What if they already knew who he was, and this was going to be an interrogation? Maybe he can’t run but he can probably teleport with his staff…. Which he didn’t have. 

Even though they parted way to let him and the man pass, the crowd still pressed together and surrounded them from either side as they talked in harsh whispers. Men, women, and even children. But it wasn’t anger or disgust they had in their eyes. There was worry and many even were curious. A tug on his coattails made him look back to see a little girl grab hold of him but soon get pulled away by an adult and get scolded. Before he could figure out what that was about, the scar-faced man pushed Esteban to the other side of the crowd to a set of stairs. Wide and big enough to make up a large pedestal where a building stood. 

The crowd attempted to follow them up the stairs but the man and a few other people stood alongside each other to make up a wall. Alone on the steps, Esteban wondered what he was to do next. Maybe run? A hand on his shoulder made him jump and he almost slipped down the stairs as he turned to face the younger man. Stepping back with his hands up in surrender, the younger man said with a small smile, “Relax. No one here will hurt you unless you do.” He motioned to the building. “Just talk to our Itz’at and you can go.”

The man’s words and calm demeanor made Esteban relax somewhat. It sounded like they didn’t know who he was. At least not yet. And if this Itz’at, most likely their leader, had a say if he goes or not then it was Esteban’s best bet of getting out of here if he went along with it. Esteban gave the younger man a small nod and both of them walked up.

Once getting to the top, The younger man stopped just outside one of the four open doorways carved into this large one-story building. “Go on,” he said. Esteban hesitated for a bit. His instincts wanted him to flee. But then he quickly brushed down his hair so it wouldn’t stick up. He talked to dignitaries before so this shouldn't be too hard, right? Holding his head high and hands behind his back, Esteban stepped in.

The light of a large fire pit in the middle lit up the decorated walls of this one room. Just like when he first met these people, there was a familiar feeling to this place. What diverted his attention was the people inside. First, there was the woman in green again sitting kneeled on a woven mat on the other side of the fire. As soon as Esteban walked in she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. He was equally not as happy to see her but before he could return the gesture, Esteban noticed the older man next to her sitting on a woven mat with knees up to his chest.

What little white hair he had left on the back of his skull and chin gave the impression he was well into his nineties. Withered and skinny but the gleam in his brown eyes showed he still had energy. He wore a brown poncho-like cape and skirt with turquoise tree designs. A green loincloth that wrapped around his waist matched the green of his turban and sandals. His jade jewelry looked heavy on him, with hoop earrings clinging to saggy earlobes and a beaded necklace with a glyph carved into a large pendant. What stuck to Esteban was the feather on his turban. As the old man moved it changed in the light from pink and blue to green and orange. 

The old man was holding Esteban’s staff and examining it from every angle. He took his time, not addressing Esteban for a solid minute before he looked up to him. For a split second, Esteban saw his eyes lit up as if he recognized him. Fear would have risen again in Esteban’s chest if the old man didn't smile and say in a raspy but hearty, “Overwhelming day for you, eh?”

Esteban didn't expect any of that, so all he could do was rely on his time as Chancellor. Keep calm, speak clearly, tell them what they want to hear. “Yes, Señor. Are you The Itz’at?”

“I am.” The older man handed the woman the staff which she let rest on her lap. Then the Itz’at crossed his arms over his knees and said, “Please, sit.” He motioned to the large woven mat just at Esteban’s feet. Sit on the ground? Esteban looked around, noticing there was no furniture. Just woven baskets full of herbs and decorated tripod vessels and pots with brushes and other tools. Well, if that’s how it’s done here. Esteban sat down cross-legged and got down to business. “I mean no disrespect when I say this but I cannot stay long.”

“Why in such a hurry?” The woman asked with a raised eyebrow.

The Itz’at held a hand out towards her and said, “Now, now. He slept well into the night, I’m sure he’s got places to be. It’s not every day one gets set back by shapeshifting wizards.”

The woman’s eyes widened and she turned to stare at the man as if trying to get him to say no more. Esteban however was more curious. “Shapeshifting wizards? You are not Malvagos?” 

The Itz’at motioned to Esteban and gave a knowing smirk to the woman. She turned away with a huff and added, “Well, we still had to step in. The magic he has--”

“We will speak of later,” The Itz’at interrupted. “At least we know he’s not a threat.” Then he looked back to Esteban. “Your question about us being Malvagos, the answer is no. At least our people who reside here are not those heathens who abuse magic. But we are not exactly wizards either. That’s just how it’s translated in your language. Anyone can learn magic so long as they have the right conduit like a tamborita, and even then there can be some limitations. Our people, however, are born strongly connected to magic. We are still human but we are part magical creature. In the end, we are protectors of magic within nature. In Maruvian, we are called Naguals.”

Even though Esteban still had questions, at least it made sense as to why they could shapeshift and move the elements. But that last part… “In Maruvian?” As soon as he asked, Esteban looked at his surroundings now in detail. The way the ceramics were decorated with spiral motifs. Textiles with unique patterns adorned the walls. Any surface not covered had glyphs carved as well as colorful beings painted with eccentric features. There were even people depicted facing one way dressed in feathered headdresses and elaborate clothing.

No wonder all this was familiar. Back when Esteban took an archeology class during his royal training, they had studied murals and artifacts found in temples that had belonged to the Maruvians. The very people who lived in Avalor before the Kingdom even existed. Looking from the murals to the people, Esteban’s jaw dropped.

The Itz’at chuckled at Esteban’s reaction and said, “Yes, we’re Maruvians.” The woman yes shifted around in nervousness.

“But Maruvians aren’t….” Esteban began but faltered.

“Not completely gone as the world has been led to believe?” The Itz’at said as more of a statement than a question. “We are very much alive and keeping to the way of life that has been passed down since the very first temples built in this land.” He motioned to the walls around them as if making a point. 

Esteban didn’t stumble on an archeological discovery. This was a living civilization! Maruvian scholars would go crazy with questions. One question though would probably be, “Why hide yourselves from the world?"

The Itz’at and the woman gave each other somber looks before The Itz’at looked back to Esteban and explained. “We are far and few in the realm of Avalor. We are probably the only settlement. If word got out of about us, especially our home here, Malvagos wouldn’t hesitate to hunt us down.”

“Malvagos hunt down Maruvians?”

“They do not care we are Maruvian. They only seek the abilities we have as Naguals. We hide in order to preserve what’s left of our living culture, even if it means hiding from those who don’t mean harm.”

Esteban thought about what the Itz'at said, but then he looked at the woman with narrow eyes. “Would it be safe to assume I am an exception to this rule?”

The Itz’at covered his mouth as another smirk appeared. The woman gave a hiss-like scuff as she finally uncrossed her arms and slammed her hands on her knees. “As he said earlier we are protectors of nature,” She explained, “Even if we must keep our secret hidden, in the end, our secret is not worth the life of the jungle. Not even Malvagos get to destroy it without us trying to stop them.” Then her eyes scanned him. “In this case wanna-be wizards like yourself.”

Esteban opened his mouth to retort but The Itz’at looked to the woman and said something in Maruvian with a warning tone. It made her sit up straight and look away to hide a small pout. The Itz’at waved a hand and said to Esteban, “Enough about us. Tell us about yourself, Señor… um…”

On instinct, Esteban answered with confidence, “You may call me Chan--” Then he stopped short and quickly corrected himself. “Esteban, just Esteban.”

“Just Esteban?” The woman asked in suspicion. “Aren’t your people all about last names?” The Itz’at didn’t move but his eyes turned to the woman with a look of disappointment. But then he looked back at Esteban and waited on an answer.

Esteban thought quickly. It would be suspicious of him not to answer, but he had to say something without giving his identity away. “Esteban Garcia, if you must know,” Esteban responded without batting an eye. 

The woman only raised an eyebrow, but it was The Itz’at who raised his head ever so slightly and an enigmatic smile formed. Esteban wondered what that meant but the old man went right to the next question. “And what brings you to the jungle, Esteban?”

“I came to…” Esteban looked at his staff the woman still had on her lap. “... practice magic.” The woman grunted prompting Esteban to add, “I did not mean to cause any trouble.”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” The Itz’at said before looking to the woman. She just stared at the old man with a neutral expression. As if knowing what that meant, The Itz’at sighed. “Well, we will need a third opinion to break the tie.” The Itz’at looked to the several pots and vessels to the right wall and he raised his voice just a bit louder. “So what do you think of our guest, K’ota?”

The woman gasped, “K’ota?” and she looked to where the old man did. Esteban also turned to see what he was talking about and he noticed a small spotted tail poking out from the shadows the ceramics cast. Then it disappeared before, from the other side of the pile, a small spotted feline head appeared. The woman’s jaw dropped before she yelled in surprise, “K’ota!”

The little creature stepped out into full view and yelled, “Tlapopouili! Tlapopouili!” **(“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”)** And then the creature burst into green light and glyphs and what stood there now was a child, and not just any child.

“You again?” Esteban gasped as he recognized the small boy in the green loincloth from the other day. 

The woman looked to Esteban confused. “What do you mean by ‘You again’?” As soon as she asked she realized what he meant and she turned back to the boy. Esteban almost scooted back seeing the fury in her eyes as she hissed, “K’ota’men! Tejitta achto?” **(He saw you before?)**

The boy quickly waved his hands in front of him and said, “But he only saw me as a human the whole time. I promise.” The boy looked to Esteban with a pleading look. 

Without a second thought, Esteban said. “This is true. I never once saw him shapeshift. I didn’t even think he could be Maruvian.” The boy smiled, but the woman didn’t relax at all. When she looked at Esteban, she was not angry but afraid. The boy didn’t reveal their secret, so why was she so worried? 

The Itz’at raised an eyebrow and smiled at Esteban, but for what he didn’t address. He said to the woman in a chirpy tone, “You see, nothing happened.”

“But--” the woman began.

She was cut off when The Itz’at said, “Come here, K’ota,” and reached his hands out. The boy, K’ota, quickly walked over then placed his small palms on top of the old, wrinkly fingers of the old man’s. “Now tell me,” The Itz’at continued, “From your first encounter with him and what you heard here, what do you think of Esteban?”

K’ota cocked his head to the side as he gave Esteban a hard stare. A low hum rose from deep in his throat as he continued to think for a moment. Then the little boy finally said cheerfully, “I like him. He kept my promise. If he told other humans about me, then those humans would be looking in the jungle, right? And if he was bad, he would have tried to hurt me before. But he didn’t. Oh! And I think he really did burn down those trees by accident. When I first met him, he fell off a tree and gut stuck in vines. It was really funny. I think he’s good. He just needs to practice magic more.”

For a brief moment, Esteban relaxed as the boy’s naivety was going to be his ticket out of here. But it was that same naivety that left Esteban so confused again. This boy completely trusted Esteban without asking about his true motives behind those actions. Most of all The Itz’at, this powerful figure, considered the words of a child. And this whole time The Itz’at spoke to Esteban as if this were a friendly conversation. Was this really an interrogation or an introduction? 

The Itz’at caught Esteban’s shoulders slump as he looked away with a frown before he quickly sat up straight again and waited for judgment. That’s when the old man finally said, “Well, it seems like Esteban can be trusted to take his leave without speaking about us to others.” The Itz’at held out a hand to the woman and she reluctantly gave the staff to him. Thinking he was about to be dismissed, Esteban began to stand up but he froze when the Itz’at said. “But even if you intend no harm, we still must avoid accidents. Which means you’ll want to take a few lessons.”

Both Esteban and the woman looked to The Itz’at and yelled, “What?!” In unison.

The Itz’at continued as he glided his hand on the grip of the staff, “If you stay with us, we can teach you how to better understand magic. We may not be the modern-day wizard but we do know how magic works, especially your connection to magic which is very unique.”

The idea of staying somewhere else beside Las Garras was tempting. But it was the idea of Ash and Zopilote coming to look for him that made him rush to his feet and yell, “No, I can’t.” This earned him some confused looks. Esteban quickly tried to cover for his answer. “The people I currently stay with will wonder where I have gone. They will come looking for me and find you.” And considering what Esteban heard of the history of the Malvagos and Naguals, this wouldn’t end well.

“Very true,” The Itz’at said. “Then I guess you can come every once in a while to train. It shouldn’t be a problem if you’ve already been coming into the jungle to train by yourself.”

Esteban put his hands behind his back so they wouldn’t see him fiddle with his fingers out of nervousness. He was so close to getting out, what else could he say? Well, just say what they want to hear and then walk away forever. “No, not a problem.”

“Then we have come to an agreement.” The Itz’at tossed the staff over the fire for Esteban to catch it with one hand on the first try. Impressed with himself, Esteban stood tall and smirked. But the contact with the staff immediately made the curl of his hair go up. He deadpanned as the woman and K’ota giggled at the sight. The Itz’at paid no mind and continued. “I believe once or twice every week should work for now. I will sometimes be your instructor, but I am physically limited in what I can teach you. So the rest will come from my granddaughter Zyanya.” He motioned to the woman next to him. 

The woman being The Itz’at’s grandaughter was surprising for sure, but the idea of her being Esteban’s teacher made him forget he lied about coming back at all and say, “Her?”

The woman, Zyanya, stopped snickering and gasped, “Me?” She looked to the Itz’at, hoping to see some sign that he wasn’t serious. But he very much was. “Mam! Amo inayi!” **(Grandfather! I will not do it!)**

“Aabil… **(Grandchild…)** ” The Itz’at began as he started to speak Maruvian again. Zyanya argued back as her hands clenched into fists. No matter what the old man said, she wasn’t giving up. Then her grandfather said something pleadingly as he rested a hand on his chest. 

Zyanya’s shoulders sagged as her defensive glare turned soft. She looked away for a second to think before she looked up again and released the tension in her fingers. “Fine.”

“Thank you, Aabil,” The Itz’at said before looking at Esteban with an unprompted knowing smile. “As for you, Esteban, I wait in anticipation for your next visit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DON’T FORGET TO READ ‘TILL THE END! Yay! We now know who these strangers are and a somewhat basic understanding of what them and even magic mean within the story. There are some clarifications in Fun Facts. Though some more explanations and meanings will be made within the story later.
> 
> Fun Facts:
> 
> 1\. There wasn’t much furniture in Mesoamerica save for low tables used to write codices. Woman would sit kneeled down while men squated with arms wrapped around their knees.
> 
> 2\. The Itz’at wears a yucatec poncho-like cape and a lion cloth layer over a skirt worn by scribes and preists. The colors and tree motif are based on the Murals of Cacaxtla. Like any noble he wears good sandals and lots of jade jewelery. The glyph on his necklace is where I take inspiration for his turban and earings since one who held the title Itz’at would wear something similar. Itz’at does NOT mean Priest or Scribe, but he does wear a feather like a priest. In this case a Sunbird feather.
> 
> 3.The equivalent of Wizard in Mesoamerica was a Priests/Shaman and Nagual does mean “shapeshifting wizard” in Nahuatl. So in this story I interlink the two, though do know Naguals were not actually considered assistants to priests.  
> 4\. My Nahuatl is VERY rough, so if any experts want to chime in I’d love the help! Out of all the words though, Mam (grandfather) and Aabil (grandchild) is Yucatec Maya and Cho’l Maya respectively. 
> 
> 5\. I’ll do my best to describe visuals if I don’t draw them, but if you want to learn more there are plenty of artists who post their work of reconstructing mesoamerican structures and how they looked back then, especially murals which were described here vaguely.
> 
> And that’s it for now….. And this year…. I know, I know! We just got started but I’m behind on a lot of work and need to catch up before the end of December. So this story will be taking a hiatus until maybe mid-January. I’ll try and keep you all posted. Until then, I’m KikaKatTIOI, peace out!


	7. Half a Trecena

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Finished a majority of the busy work I had. One that included getting to work on the Guiding Light Elena Fanzine (Which you all should buy if you have the chance *wink*wink* so many amazing artists and writers worked on it *wink*wink* I have a Maruvian piece in there *extra winks*)

Since Zyanya was assigned as Esteban’s teacher, The Itz’at thought it best that Zyanya help Esteban find his way back through the dark jungle. “After all, this would be a great time for you to get to know one another.”

Not one word passed between the two the entire time back. Esteban tried to ignore the awkward silence by trying to see more of the Nagual’s home, but Zyanya’s quick pace made it hard to observe and keep up. He didn’t realize they had gotten in between some gulge before it got too dark to see anything.

“Ay!” he yelled as he stubbed his foot on a rock. Another yelp escaped him as he felt his shoulder hit a sharp rock poking out from the rockface. A flash of green ahead lit up the tight space for a moment before it got dark again, and then Esteban felt something strong pull him by the sleeve of his coat. He figured it was Zyanya leading him out, but he wondered why her grip forced him to lean forward while walking. Once they got out of the gulge, open space allowed some moonlight to shine where Esteban thought Zyanya’s hand was.

Esteban’s eyes widened as he noticed jaws clamped down on his sleeve. He pulled away on instinct and the sound of cloth ripping apart followed. The man looked at his torn sleeve in dismay before looking warily at Zyanya in her non-jaquin creature form. She spat out the white cloth stuck in her teeth before saying, “Would you relax? It’s still me.”

As she stalked towards the edge of the jungle, Esteban bent down to pick up the torn piece of his sleeve. “Yes, well, you could have just used a hand instead of your teeth.”

“It’s easier to see in the dark as a jaguar.”

“Jaguar?” Esteban thought before he stood up straight to look at Zyanya in awe. “That’s… that’s what you are?” It was more of a statement than a question.

Zyanya stopped walking and looked back in exasperation. “Let me guess. You thought I was a wingless Jaquin?”

“Well, yes…” Esteban confessed before he realized how this made him look. He quickly added, “But who wouldn’t think so? Jaguars have been extinct for hundreds of years. Not many would know such creatures existed unless through a personal study like I myself have done.”

Zyanya frowned but looked away before Esteban could notice. In a somber tone, she said, “Yeah.. extinct.” Esteban noticed as her head lowered but quickly perked up again as she added confidently, “Unless one’s nagual form was a Jaguar, that is. Like myself. Now come on.”

It was back to absolute quiet as they continued through the deep jungle. Esteban made sure to follow right behind Zyanya so as not to lose her in the dark. By the time they reached the clearing they first met in, dawn was finally coming. “There should be enough light for you now,” Zyanya said as she turned human again. “And you should be able to retrace your steps to where ever you came from.”

Zyanya looked to the sky towards the few stars that were still visible. She put two fingers up in a V-shape and closed one eye. Zyanya then turned her head right and pointed in the direction she was looking. “We chased you from there.” Esteban looked, figuring Las Garras was in that direction. “Oh, that makes sense. You came from Morelos.”

For a split second, Esteban didn’t know why she would bring up that small old lake town. Morelos was west of Avalor City and sat between the mountainscape and the wilds. The lake itself connected to a river that eventually split into two deep within the wilds. Now that Esteban thought about it, the base of Las Garras was at the fork in the river. Her assumption that he came from Morelos sounded better than coming from some mountain like a hermit.

Zyanya took his silence as a ‘yes’ and then said, “And here I was wondering what someone from Avalor City was doing this far.” She turned around and walked past him to leave him behind in the clearing. Knowing she was happy to be rid of him, Esteban figured that was that and didn’t expect her to say anything else. 

He started to walk away when he heard a deep sigh from Zyanya before she said, “Look, I don’t expect you to come back,” Esteban stopped and looked back. He saw the woman with her back to him as she faced the edge of the clearing. Head held high and shoulders stiff as she continued, “I know the eyes of a man who wants to run. And the reason you’re out here is the least of my concern so long as you don’t cause any more trouble.” Suddenly her shoulders slackened and her head titled as she looked down. “But I love my Abuelo. I hate to see him get sad. I don’t know why but he sees hope in you, and if you don’t come back…” She faltered.

Esteban looked ahead once again. He didn’t need the description. It was easy to imagine the Itz’at’s reaction if Esteban thought of his own abuelos in his place. And the feeling Zyanya would get, Esteban knew that all too well.

Zyanya continued, “If you could come back and at least try and learn something for one day, it would mean a lot to him. And you don’t even have to come back again after, but just…” She faltered again but followed it with a sigh. There was quiet, and Esteban knew she was waiting for a response. But Esteban didn’t even know what to say. His silence again made Zyanya say, “If I don’t see you here within half a trecena, I’ll know your answer.”

“Trecena?” Esteban asked. He turned around to ask, “What does that--” he stopped talking when he realized she was no longer there. The shrubbery near where she once stood rustled before going still again. Esteban rolled his eyes and looked where Zyanya had pointed to earlier. Whether Esteban wanted to think about what she said or not, right now wasn’t the time. His trip back to Las Garras would be spent giving him time to think of how he was going to explain his absence to Ash and Zopilote.

It was well past dawn by the time Esteban made it to Las Garras, and it took a bit more time until he got to the entrance of the cave. Even though Esteban had slept before waking up in the Maruvian’s hidden settlement, he was still feeling pretty tired considering he was used to siestas then longer naps. So it was easy for him not to notice a shadow looming above before he was tackled. 

Sharp talons pinned Esteban down on his chest so that his back was to the ground. Even though he still had his grip on his staff, Esteban didn’t think to use it as he was stiff with fear looking at Zopilote in his buzzard form. The Mavlago’s wings were spread wide and beak open in a hiss. But just as soon as he had swooped down to attack Esteban, Zopilote blinked and gasped, “It’s you?” He quickly flew up and transformed mid-flight before coming to land in his human form.

“Of course it’s me,” Esteban grumbled as he got up and dusted himself off. “And why did you attack me?”

“Because we weren’t expecting you to come back, at all. You vanished, like as if you didn’t exist?”

“What does that mean? You thought I was dead?”

From one of the tunnels, Ash came walking out into the main cave to say, “We’d still be able to track you with a tracking spell even if you were dead. My tamborita couldn’t find a trace of you.”

“Didn’t you put some anti-tacking spell on all of us to keep Elena from finding us?” Esteban asked.

“Since I cast the spell then you have to remain a close distance from me to remain untrackable. Zopilote went out scouting but couldn’t find you anywhere near Las Garras. Where the heck did you go that we couldn’t find you?”

Esteban hoped that anti-tracking spell excuse would work, so now he had to think quickly of another. “Well, I don’t know. The wilds are endless. I can’t tell North from South standing anywhere in that jungle.”

“You didn’t have to stay out the whole night to prove that point,” Zopilote added.

“I teleported too far and I lost track of time so I had to find shelter when night set in.” Esteban began to walk off, hoping that would make this conversation end faster. 

Zopilote stayed by the cave entrance and looked at the view of the vast jungle that stretched almost as far as the eye could see. Ash wasn’t done with Esteban, however. “Hold on. You, Mr. Fancy Pants, willingly slept outside?” she asked, slightly amused.

“Not like I had much of a choice,” Esteban responded, his irritated tone of voice echoing throughout the cave, “I wasn’t going to go stumbling in the dark. And who said anything about sleep. If anything, I lost sleep. So I’ll be catching up on that if you don’t mind.” 

When Ash and Esteban had finished bickering and retreated to their quarters, Zopilote stopped gazing outside and looked back inside the cave with a raised eyebrow. Everything Esteban made sense, but there was still the fact that he had been untraceable. How was that possible? What if…

Zopilote shook his head. “No, they’d never risk showing their faces to someone like him.”

A few days passed and Esteban had been forced back into training again. For the time being, Malvagos thought it best to put aside teleportation training. Zopilote figured that maybe the reason Esteban had been untraceable was that it was another of his abilities. But when they trained it didn’t seem likely. The Malvagos made him go from hiding behind rocks to as far as deep in the tunnels of the mountain. But every time, Ash would find him with her tracking spell. “Some useless form of hide-nd seek this turned out to be,” Esteban said to himself as he stood up against the wall of a tunnel. 

He had no idea how far he had gone in the tunnel system, and the pitch blackness made it hard for him to find his way back to the main cave. But considering Ash and Zopilote had found him every single time, Esteban didn’t worry about getting lost. He had only been in the tunnel for half an hour. They’ll show up at some point soon, and hopefully, give up on trying to see if he can just vanish without a trace. Normally, Esteban wouldn’t care about such a thing, but he was a little curious as to why the Malvagos couldn’t find him a few days ago. 

Was it another ability he also didn’t know how to control… or had it been the Maruvians? Maybe that was something he could ask them. If he was going to go back, that is. 

From time to time, Esteban thought back to the encounter. How could he not? They were living Maruvians! But this was the first time he got to really think about The Itz’at’s offer and Zyanya’s words. He didn’t want to learn magic in the first place, so why go back there? And they didn’t seem to want him back there. Heck, Zyanya and that other guy, the scar-faced man, weren’t too happy to have him around.

But Zyanya did bring up something that left Esteban thinking. The Itz’at was the first person since this nightmare of an exile had begun who actually wanted him around. And to add, not use him for his magic. The old man was genuine, even treated Esteban like a guest. This was the respect Esteban felt he had been missing. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to go back. But going back meant more training with magic, and Esteban already had enough with Ash and Zopilote. Did he really need more, especially if he learned nothing so far? 

But what about the Itz’at’s disappointment Zyanya mentioned as well. 

Esteban forced himself to brush that thought away. There was always a tight feeling in his chest that came with it. Letting someone down. Just like in the council room when Elena cast him out. Fortunately for him, the sound of loose pebbles falling from the tunnel ceiling broke Esteban out of his thoughts. He didn’t think much of it at first until a sudden gust of wind blew past Esteban and stopped just as quickly. In the pitch blackness, the man guessed the wind came from another entrance to the cave’s tunnel system nearby. He had bumped into a couple of those since this part of training began, but an entrance this deep in the mountain didn’t sound logical at all.

Esteban became distracted yet again but this time by a purple light coming from the other side of the tunnel. Recognizing the color of Zopilote’s magic, Esteban knew it was the birdman coming around the corner from a merging tunnel. But just as Esteban was about to walk over and meet the Malvago halfway, he felt hot breath right behind him. Yelping fear, Esteban turned in time to see… nothing? The growing brightness of Zopilote’s magic should have made it easy for Esteban to see whatever it was that had been breathing down his neck. There were only shadows. 

“What’s with the screaming?” Zopilote asked as he walked up to Esteban.

The man turned to him but pointed behind him as he tried to explain, “There was… something…” But when they both looked back, there was still nothing. Esteban was about to give it up to save himself embarrassment but Zopilote stepped forward and raised his hand holding the purple flame higher. 

He examined the tunnel, eyes shifting around suspiciously. “There shouldn’t be anything else in here,” Zopilote said, loud enough for his words to echo. Esteban blinked and looked around, wondering of Zopilote said was meant for just him to hear. Then the bird mumbled something under his breath and said, “Even so, you shouldn’t be down this far.” Zopilote turned and began to walk back the way he came.

Esteban followed behind him. “Ash told you where to find me, no?”

“I don’t mean about getting lost. You don’t NEED to go down this far anymore. I think we’ve proven you don’t have the power to be untraceable. Besides, I don’t want to go another trecena with this useless form of hide--”

“Trecena?” Esteban asked as he stopped to look at Zopilote in surprise. He’d heard that word before. Zyanya said it.

Zopilote winced. He then stopped and quickly shifted his eyes about as he tried to think of an answer. “It--well-- it’s nothing. An old term. No one says it anymore.”

“What does trecena mean?”

Zopilote sighed before answering, “It’s a thirteen day period. A full week.”

“A week?”

“What’s almost two weeks for you is a full week for me. Now stop asking questions.”

Not wanting to risk Zopilote leaving him in the dark, Esteban didn’t press on. But he was left asking himself questions he had no answer to. Why was trecena an old term? Was it because it was Maruvian? How did Zopilote know? Esteban had his suspicions about that, and if he was right then what Zopilote said was true. Trecena was thirteen days. Zyanya said half, so she probably meant six or seven days. Much of that time had passed already, so Esteban had until tomorrow to go back to the Nagual’s hideout. 

He raised his left hand to look at the chewed off part of his sleeve. So the next question was… would he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zopilote what secrets do you hold HMMMMMMMM? And it looks like the mountain itself has secrets of its own lurking in the shadows. Yes, I did have to make this part of training a weird game of hide and seek, it was too funny to pass up XD. But it gave time for Esteban to think of what to do next… but that’s next chapter.
> 
> Fun Fact Time!:
> 
> 1)Jaguars: Although jaguars aren’t endangered, they are near threatened. And even though Mateo mentioned jaguars in EoA, the only other being to speak of them was Quita Moz. The way the sunbird described jaguars made it sound like there weren’t many around, so I’d thought i’d play around with the idea here that something went wrong for them to be extinct.
> 
> 2)Morelos: Named after Puerto Morelos, a little fishing town near Cancun in the Yucatan that I’d visit every year. Many Maya people live there today and a few miles South is the archeological site of the Maya City of Tulum. It’s my favorite place to go and probably where my obsession started haha.
> 
> 3)Trecena: Just like Zopilote said, Trecena is a 13 day period, or a week in Mesoamerica Cultures. Multiply 13 by 20 and you get 260 days, the full Tzolkin Calender used by the Maya to track celebratory events. It was influenced by placement of planets in the night sky (hinted in this chapter btw) I’ll get more into calenders later in the story but quick PSA for now: The ‘Mayan Calender’ used in media depicting the guy sticking its tongue out in the center is not Maya or a functioning calendar. It’s the Aztec Sunstone that depicts their Mythology. Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. 
> 
> A.N: Now that I’m back, I should be able to stay to the biweekly schedule, though I may be able to post next week. We’ll see. I’m KikaKatTIOI, peace out!


	8. Worth It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lost track how many times I rewrote this chapter but here it is! I finally get to bring up another adversary based on one of my favorite stories from the Maya.

From his roost high up in the main cave, Zopilote looked at a small piece of paper in his hands. He read the different items listed until he had them memorized. 

“Bogato!” Came Ash’s voice far below. It was followed by Esteban yelling and then a loud crash. “Not like that!”

Zopilote grumbled and then crumbled up the piece of paper before transforming into a buzzard. He flew down to land on one of the many rocks poking out of the ground. There he got a good view of Ash and Esteban training. Well, if one could call it training. Esteban was basically running around the entire cave at this point.

“If teleportation is all you have, at least use it,” Ash said before raising her tamborita in front of her. “Bogato!” she yelled, slamming her hand on the drum. Esteban jumped away as the white blast whizzed by him and hit the rocky wall of the cave. 

Esteban stopped running and faced Ash. “I did that the last two rounds. And I either got teleported in line of fire or almost off the edge of the mountainside.” Then Esteban crossed his arms and held his head high, “I’m not teleporting unless there is a better way to--”

“Bogato!” 

So fast was the blast that Esteban had no time to react this time. He was knocked off his feet and he fell a few meters away on his back. His staff clattering to the ground not too far from him. “Ow....” he moaned as his face twisted in pain. 

When he looked up, Ash was standing over him as she said, “Magic is reactionary, remember? You’re as good as dead if you think otherwise and complain.”

As Esteban sat up to rub his back, he asked, “Can we at least take a break. We’ve been at this all morning and it’s almost noon.”

“The goal of today’s training is for you to disarm me,” Ash explained as she held up her tamborita. “You haven’t even tried coming after me, so we’re not done until you do.”

Esteban got up on his feet and pointed the tip of his staff close to Ash’s nose. “You haven’t even shown me how.”

Ash raised an eyebrow, unphased by the weapon at her face. Before Esteban could blink, Ash was already grabbing his staff by the hilt and twisting it. It forced Esteban’s wrist to turn at an odd angle and he gave a yell before letting go. As he shook his hand off of the pain, Ash pointed the staff right at his nose as she said, warningly, “Need another demonstration?”

Zopilote rolled his eyes and yelled, “All right, enough!” Ash and Esteban looked at the birdman surprised as he raised a wing. “As much as I agree with Ash that you should keep practicing and putting more effort, you can have your break, Esteban.”

“What?” Ash asked surprised

“Finally…” Esteban said relieved. 

Zopilote continued, “I need to get supplies and I’ll be gone for a while. But I can’t have you training alone if the ceiling caves in because you two couldn’t stop arguing. So no spells cast until I get back.” Esteban smirked in Ash’s direction which caused her to shove his staff back into him so hard the hilt almost knocked the wind out of him. He could only look up at her with his own sneer as he leaned over to recover. Then Zopilote added, “And no leaving the mountain.”

Esteban stood upright real quick. Now it was his turn to yell, “What?!”

“I expect training to resume when I get back and I don’t want a repeat of the last two times you got lost. So stay put.”

Esteban watched in defeat as Zopilote flew out of the cave. Ash noticed his dismal look and said, “Oh, come on. It’s not like you have anywhere else to be.” Esteban just turned to leave her in the main cave. There was no use coming up with a retort. Because what she said wasn’t true.

He did have somewhere to be. Well, not really HAD to be. Or did he? 

Esteban stopped at the entrance of his makeshift room and leaned against the rock wall. A lot more work had been put into the small space since he last took time to really look at it. But still, nothing could make this small place feel welcoming. That’s why he wanted to get back to the Maruvians so bad because at least the Itz’at made him feel welcome. Which is why he had been hoping for a break all morning. So that he could go out and find them. 

But first, he had to locate that clearing again, and he couldn’t remember if it was southeast or southwest of Las Garras. “Figures,” Esteban sighed. He was probably going to get lost again, even without teleportation. And Ash had stayed in the main cave. If Esteban tried walking out, she’d start asking questions. If he couldn’t go anywhere, then what was the point of all this thinking? Maybe that was just it, it was pointless. After all, if the Malvagos couldn’t teach Esteban who's to say the Maruvian’s could do better. And Esteban didn’t even like training in magic. It wasn’t worth it.

“It would mean a lot to him…” Zyanya’s words echoed in his mind. As soon as he thought of that, he felt a small breeze. Esteban stood up straight and looked down at the tunnel he was in. One of many in the mountain. A small smile appeared on his face. Maybe it was worth a shot.

Soon, Esteban was making his way down a small tunnel before taking a left at a bigger one that connected right to it. In the few days the Malvagos thought he could mask himself from tracking spells, Esteban had bumped into a few tunnels that lead to entrances in different parts of the mountain. If he could find the right one that led him to the base of the mountain, he was out of there. So for a long while, Esteban continued taking tunnels downward.

At one point he found a familiar crossroad. He knew if he chose right he’d be going down into pitch black. The memory of an unknown presence in the dark gave Esteban goosebumps, but then he remembered what Zopilote said. Nothing else was living here. Which made sense. Why would the birdman make this place a hideout if it meant sharing it with someone else?

Esteban lit a candle he brought with him just in case. He could at least see a meter ahead to avoid stumbling around, but it still wasn’t much. It was a small candle and about fifteen minutes later the flame was getting near his fingertips. There had to be a way out at some point, right?

Finally, after what felt like forever, the floor beneath him leveled out and he spotted a glow at the end of the tunnel. He would have run to freedom if the glow wasn’t an eerie purple. He slowly made his way to the source of the purple light, preparing himself for whatever was ahead. When Esteban got there he almost dropped his candle. It was a cenote. 

At least 3 meters in diameter, the sinkhole took up almost the entire floor of the cave. The water itself was the one glowing purple. Small catfish that swam about seemed to be unaffected by the light. Esteban looked up to see if there might have been some hole in the ceiling to shine daylight in, but all he found were stalactites six meters tall hanging from the dark shadows.

He would have stayed longer if the glow hadn’t shown him what was on the other side of the cenote. Carved into the rocky wall was a stela of a bat figure painted a dark blue with glyphs on either side. No doubt it was Maruvian given it was depicted with body facing forward and head facing left. But Esteban stepped back, noticing the mouth was open to reveal fangs and its wings spread out to raise large talons. There had to be a reason this was here. Was Zopilote right to say they were alone in the mountain?

A draft on his left made Esteban look at the large entrance of another tunnel. If there was wind, then this was his way out. Remembering his mission, he shuffled quickly along the edge of the cenote as to not fall in before making his way into the new tunnel. He left the cenote behind, not noticing two of the many stalactites twitch back and forth

Esteban hurried down the newfound tunnel as the flame of his candle began to dim. He only stopped when he spotted another glow at the end of this tunnel. The bright yellow color made him sigh in relief and toss his candle aside. Daylight was just up ahead, and he could even spot some trees. He had finally reached the base. “Ash and Zopilote think they can keep me in the mountain. Please…” he said, fixing up his ascot and hold his head high, “I just did so and without any problem.”

Suddenly, he felt hot breath on his neck and Esteban went stiff. He took a glance back and saw nothing but sharp fangs. On instinct, Esteban ducked as whatever it was tried to bite down on his head but missed. Then, Esteban swung his staff up, hoping the sharp tip would do some damage. He didn’t get a hit but it was enough for whatever was attacking to back off and give him room to run for the exit.

Just as he was about to make it out, a sudden gust of wind behind Esteban caused him to be blown out of the tunnel and into daylight. He tumbled to the ground and kept rolling until he came to a stop on his side. He would have stayed laying there in pain if he didn’t feel hot breath right over him. He whipped around so that he sat up and came face to face with the biggest creature he had ever seen. 

It was a giant bat, almost as tall as the trees that now surrounded them and fur a deep blue that could get lost in the night. Its aqua blue wings spread wide to show they were double their own size and had a singular sharp talon on each. Nostrils on its blue leaf-like nose flared as it breathed heavily on him and long point ears laid back flat on its head. What caught Esteban’s attention was that it wore gold wrist jewelry on each talon and a thick gold necklace. The pendant marked by a black X-mark. It even wore a purple cloth like a skirt around its waist.

Suddenly, the giant bat opened its mouth to give a mighty screech showing two massive fangs and almost blowing out Esteban’s eardrums in the process. Esteban grabbed his staff that had fallen right beside him. Forget avoiding getting lost, it was either that or become this beast’s dinner. Esteban slammed the end of the staff to the ground in hopes he didn’t teleport in front of the giant again.

Once he found himself standing up and seeing a different part of the forest, he sighed in relief. And then followed it with a yell of frustration. “Why is it every time I walk into this cursed jungle something is trying to kill me!?”

A surprised growl from behind him made Esteban look back wide-eyed. He had only managed to teleported behind the bat creature so it was easy for the giant thing to hear Esteban yell and turn to face him. It too was surprising to see the man end up back there, but its surprise went right back to fury as it gave a massive screech and charged. Esteban tried to teleport far away again, but he only found himself next to the large right wing of bat. It raised its leaf nose in the air to sniff before its giant head turned sharply in Esteban’s direction. 

Esteban hit his staff to the ground figuring that if he couldn’t teleport far away, he could at least teleport out of reach from the jaws of death. And that’s all he did. The man would teleport deeper and deeper into the jungle but the creature would always be right at his tail. Esteban wondered how a creature that normally flies was able to get around on the ground so quickly. 

“Come on, you lousy thing,” He grumbled as he looked down at his staff. With as much strength as he could gather, Esteban slammed the end of his staff into the ground almost wedging it into the dirt. By the time the creature caught up, Esteban was nowhere in sight. 

The man found himself back to back with a tree. Seeing nothing but trees in front of him, Esteban peeked around the trunk. He only caught a glimpse of dark blue moving among some trees far behind him before he turned back to look forward again. The bat gave another loud screech that almost seemed to make the leaves of the trees shake. Esteban pressed himself closer to the trunk, staff close almost touching his nose as he tried to stay hidden. “Move along, move along…” he whispered. He waited a few moments until he was sure he heard nothing. When he peeked around the tree again, Esteban didn’t spy the bat creature. 

Sighing in relief he stepped away from the tree and dusted himself off. “No--no-- no WAY is all this chasing around and getting hunted worth learning some dumb magic tricks. I’m going back--”

A distant screech cut him off and he looked in the direction the bat left. At first, he thought it was coming from among the trees until he heard it mingled with the sound of giant wings cutting through the air above. Both sounds getting louder. “How?” Esteban asked in disbelief.

The tree Esteban had been hiding behind was then toppled over and crushed by the immense weight of the giant bat as it fell from the sky. It used its talons to scrape through the wood to search for the man. Realizing its target had escaped and was running away again, the creature charged once more.

Esteban didn’t know how much longer he could keep up running until he broke through the tree line and found himself by a familiar stream. Before he could remember why he stumbled on a loose rock and fell to his hands and knees. This slip-up gave the bat enough time to catch up and break through the treeline itself. Esteban looked back in time to see it lunge towards him and a wall of water rise between them.

Esteban scooted back, mouth open wide as the water splashed right into the creature’s face. It shrieked as it tried to shake its head off the water. But more to the stream came back up and splashed in its face yet again. He then heard someone in the trees behind him yell, “What are you doing? Run!” Esteban looked left and right trying to find the owner of the voice but forgot about it real quick when he realized the creature wouldn’t be distracted long. 

Doing as he was told he ran deeper into the jungle, not caring where. He then heard the creature screech again and he looked back to see it charging right for him and getting closer. Without warning, he heard a buzzing sound followed by a new voice saying, “Don’t look back. Keep running then jump through the gap.” Esteban looked around again and saw no one, but he did see something new up ahead. 

Vines. A huge cluster of them hanging from the trees. Esteban noticed a space between them he could run through without getting tangled. The feeling of the creature biting at his heels pushed Esteban to run faster. And then he jumped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise this is the last time Esteban gets chased around for a long while. It would be out of character to introduce Zotzini any other way. But at least this time it seems Esteban is getting some help from some unlikely new allies.
> 
> Fun Fact Time!:
> 
> 1)Cenotes: Sinkholes filled with water that are found all throughout Yucatan Peninsula and can often connect with other sinkholes miles away through tunnels below ground. Said to be the gateways to Xibalba, the underworld, in Maya mythology. 
> 
> 2)Zotzini: “Zotz” means bat in Kiche Maya and “Bigidiri Zini” translates to butterfly meat, which is a title for bat in Zapotec. Zotzini is inspired by my favorite demon in the Maya Pantheon known as Camazotz. When the Maya Hero twins go to the underworld, one of the many challenges was to go through the House of Bats from which Camazotz rules. Sometimes he’s depicted on his own or having an army of killer bats. In general, he is known as the lord of bats, death, and the night. This is why Zotzini is influenced by depictions of Camazotz on pottery and effigies. But just like the show does with Quita Moz and Orizaba, I don’t directly use the name of the being they're inspired by… that way I can bring in my own creative ideas for Zotzini
> 
> So let’s see how Esteban gets out of this mess next chapter. I’m KikaKatTIOI, peace out!


	9. The Boys

“HUEY!!” 

The sudden yell made Esteban look up from where he fell face-first into the ground. A deer jumped out from the treeline ahead, trotting over to the man with a big grin. 

Before Esteban could figure out why the deer seemed familiar, an angry growl behind him made him look back. He had managed to jump through the gap in the vines, but the giant bat creature gotten tangled up in the mess. Its massive wings flapping about to try and break through the trap. It was still pretty close, so Esteban tried to crawl away.

But Esteban stopped when the deer came nose to nose with him. He sat up to lean back but in doing so he got a good look at the flame markings on the deer’s legs. Now it made sense. It was the deer man. “Calling it close, heh, Xirafatl?”

Suddenly Esteban felt something jump on his head, but before he could shoo it away, it jumped off and hung on to the deer’s left antler. It was a spider monkey with lengthy brown hair growing from its head to the small of its back and held back by a blue headband and tie. “And we were this close to not coming this far out today,” the monkey said in a young male voice as he raised one long arm to show his thumb and index finger nearly touching. 

A buzzing sound on Esteban’s left made him slightly jump. He looked to see a green hummingbird with violet chest feathers and one on its head sticking up. Esteban didn’t expect the little guy to say in a strong male voice, “And that’s why you got us, the-- Oh no--”

Without warning, the deer reached out and grabbed the back of Esteban’s collar with his teeth to yank the man behind him. Esteban managed to keep himself on his hands and knees so that he could look back. The bat creature managed to pull at the vines with enough strength that it could have reached Esteban with its jaws. The deer man had pulled Esteban out of harm's way. But the strength of the vines forced the creature back and the momentum made it swing in the tangled mess. 

“What, that’s it?” The hummingbird asked surprised before flying high and bursting in glowing purple bird glyphs before coming to land on the ground as a man in his early thirties. He had his chin-length hair parted to the left so that his entire right side was completely shaved off and revealed tooth-like ear piercings. He had on a long purple loincloth with a knot tied on the middle and light gauze material wrapped around his hips. Tattoos of different symbols, pictograms, and glyphs were tattooed from the middle of his right forearm to his left shoulder along with a hummingbird tattooed on his left chest. “Come on, bring it on, big guy!” he yelled as he motioned for the bat to come forward.

Then the spider monkey jumped off the deer’s antlers before blue monkey glyphs replaced it with a man in his late twenties. He wore a blue lion cloth matching his blue headband keeping his hair back tied in a ponytail. His upper body was covered in a waist-length, black netted cape with blue glyphs sewn on the thick white hem. As he stepped forward to mimic his hummingbird friend, Esteban saw the spider monkey tattooed on his left leg. “Yeah! Come and get it!” he called out before he stuck his tongue out. 

Their taunting angered the creature enough for it to pull against the restraints and try to bite them. Even though they took a step back to avoid getting caught, the Maruvians still kept laughing. The deer had stepped far back enough so that he stood next to Esteban. Seeing him still sitting on the ground, the deer leaned his head down so that his antlers were right by Esteban’s face. “Grab on,” he said. Unsure of what the deer man was trying to do, Esteban slowly reached out and grabbed the right antler. Then the deer reared his head back and helped Esteban back on his feet. The sudden jerk upwards almost made him fall forward but the deer stayed close so that the man could lean into his side. 

By then, the creature had attempted to come closer only to be pulled back once more. The hummingbird man yelled, “Nice try!”

Then, in a deep, raspy voice, the creature said, “Move aside so I can crush this human scum into the ground,” 

A sudden chill made Esteban step back. But the deer stepped forward as he finally shapeshifted into his human form so that he could motion towards the ground and say, “Well you got to get to the ground first, Zotzini!” Then he and the other two men laughed once more. Esteban’s mouth hung open. Moments ago this…. Zotzini tried had tried to kill him and these three were just mocking the giant

Zotzinin gave a low hiss and tried to pull against the vines again by flapping his wings. The monkey man put his hands to his hips and cocked his head to the side. “You know for someone who hangs upside down a lot you look good hanging right side up,” he said which earned some giggles from the other two. 

The hummingbird man added, “Wait, hold up, that’s his face. And here I thought he was hanging upside down already.” All three men burst into laughter again. It was enough for Esteban to finally let a small smile appear as he chuckled. That was kind of funny.

What was funny to them finally angered Zotzini to the point when he pulled against the restraints one vine wrapped around his chest snapped. The sudden release made him drop fast and low enough his face slammed into the ground. All four men winced. That had to hurt.

Zotzini shook his head off delirium as he swung back and forth on the vines once more. Pushing past his friends, the deer man went to stand face to face with the bat. “All right Zotzini,” He began as he crossed his arms, “You can give it up. I’m sure you don’t want to make your face any flatter than it is.”

Zotzini’s brow furrowed as he looked down at the Maruvian. “Not until you let me deal with that human.” he hissed. “He was in the mountain.”

“Look, we highly respect your duty to protect what’s yours but you do realize you’re in our territory now, right?” He extended his arms out. “Which means this tlakatl is for us to deal with.”

Zotzini deadpanned. “For a people who try to stay out of danger, you Naguals have a bad habit of finding it.”

“He’s not a threat. Besides, he’ll be coming to our place from time to time to learn magic, so he won’t be messing with--”

“You’re letting him into K’ink’uk’nal?” Zotzini interrupted with a raised brow.

“Yes, and what of it?” The hummingbird man cut in, puffing out his chest. 

Zotzini looked between the Maruvians in confusion and then to Esteban with narrowed eyes. At first, Esteban thought he was looking to find another way to kill him, but then Esteban got a feeling that Zotzini was looking for more than that. Then Zotzini began to flap his wings and lean back to get out of the tangled mess of vines easier. Once he was free, he did not attempt to attack. Instead, he stayed on the other side of the vines and landed with his back to them. His talons scraped the ground as he lumbered away without another word.

“Good talk,” The monkey man mumbled.

“Well, it was good to see you come out and get some sun, Zotzini!” The hummingbird man called out as the bat creature disappeared into the thick foliage.

The deer man moved his hand up and down to get his friend to settle. Then all three turned around to face Esteban. “Man, oh man, you are one lucky guy,” The deer man began with a smirk. 

“You could have been bat food if you hadn’t been so quick on your feet,” The monkey man added.

“Quick?” Esteban asked. No one had ever described him as quick before.

“Don’t forget us,” The hummingbird man said with a knowing smile as he nudged his monkey friend by the elbow. “We were near the stream when we heard Zotzini screeching like the maniac he is.” The words got Esteban thinking of the voices by the stream earlier. These three have been helping him this whole time. 

“What were you doing in Las Garras?” The deer man asked, “Aren’t you from Morelos?”

Remembering that part of his cover story, Esteban straightened himself and quickly said, “Yes, that’s where I’m staying. I just… took a shortcut.”

“Not a bad idea,” The hummingbird man almost snickered. “If the mountain wasn’t home to an ancient demon lord.” Esteban gulped. What the heck was Zopilote thinking of staying in the same mountain as an ancient demon lord? There’s no way he was oblivious to it.

“Well, now he knows,” the deer man said to his friends as he patted Esteban on the shoulder, the sudden move making the man tense up. “That’s that so long as you don’t go through the tunnels again. And parts of the jungle. Zotzini’s got territory near the mountain.” 

“Wait, which parts of the jungle?” Esteban asked nervously.

“Relax, you’ll learn as you go.” The deer man looked down at Esteban’s staff that had been on the ground the entire time. He picked up the staff with his toes then kicked it up in the air so he could skillfully grab by hand. “Speaking of learning, you’ve got somewhere to be.” 

Still processing all the new information, all Esteban could do was raise an eyebrow and say, “I do?”

“Training,” the deer man answered as he held out the staff for Esteban to grab. The man slowly reached out to grab it, and then he looked down at it as he was reminded of why he was out here. But In the middle of running for his life, he was more than ready to give this all up and turn back. So should he?

“Well, aren’t you coming?” 

Realizing the three men had left him alone to think, Esteban looked back to see they had all shapeshifted back into their animal forms and waited at the edge of the treeline.

“What, you got something better to do?” The hummingbird asked. Esteban looked once again in the direction of Las Garras before looking back at the three Maruvians and shaking his head. “Then let’s go, Xirafatl.” Then they all started to make their way deeper into the jungle.

“Hold on a moment,” Esteban called out as he followed after them. He tried his best to keep up but he continuously had to duck under branches or watch his feet to avoid tripping over rocks. Once he was at least next to the deer, he asked. “What is it that you keep calling me? Xirafatl? And the other. Tla… talka…”

From where he sat on the back of his deer friend, the monkey answered. “It means different things depending on context, but we’re just calling you human. As for Xirafatl, it means--”

“Stretch!” The hummingbird cut in as he came to fly by Esteban’s head. “And you’re welcome for that one.”

“Stretch?” Esteban repeated.

“There have been some tall people among us but none as tall as you,” the deer explained. Esteban looked away somewhat reluctant on letting them call him that. Then again, being called tall was better than being called El Segundo. “Besides,” the deer man continued, “Being named something about yourself is sometimes how it goes among us Naguals. Little Deer Brother, that’s what my name translates to your language. But you can call me Mazateikautl.”

“Unless you’re me,” the hummingbird said, puffing up his violet chest feathers “Ikikunari. I’m the Untameable.”

“Unmanageable is more like it,” Mazateikautl muttered with a smile. 

Ikikunari heard him and flew past Esteban to be eye to eye with the deer. “Oh, you wanna go,” he said with a smirk before he began poking his sharp nose on the Mazateikautl’s forehead. The deer kept his stride but laughed as he shook his head to swipe at the hummingbird with his antlers. 

Finally, the spider monkey spoke up. “My parents are a bit old-fashioned and named me after the date I was born on. Jun Imix, the first day of the month of Imix. And then I added Ja’, which means Water. So I’m Jun Ja’ Imix.”

Esteban smiled. “So there isn’t one way to just name yourself. Fascinating.” He couldn’t remember the last time he took time to learn about a different culture, especially for just the fun of it. It was a nice change in pace. As they got closer to a set of mountains, Esteban realized something Jun Ja’ Imix said. “Why water?”

“Well, water makes up Rain which is my element,” Jun Ja’ Imix answered. 

“What does that mean?”

“It means that’s all he can do,” Mazateikautl explained as he finally shooed Ikikunari away. “You see, Jun Ja’ can raise water from the stream like you saw back there, but I can’t. If you asked me to get a fire started , however…” Mazateikautl stopped and looked at Esteban dead in the eye before his antlers burst into flames. “I can surely do that.” Esteban stepped back in fright but the deer shook his head to fan out the fire as he continued forward. “Each Nagual is born connected to one of five elements. Rain, Earth, Fire, Wind, and Life. 

Ikikunari flew down to fly in circles around Esteban’s feet. The wind around the man suddenly picked up to the point it made the ends of his coat rise. Once Ikikunari flew back to flying by Esteban’s head, the wind died down. “See? And it's the same thing when it comes to shapeshifting. We can only be one animal.”

“The Itz’at said you were all born magical,” Esteban cut in. “What you’re saying sounds limiting to me.”

“Connected,” Mazateikautl emphasized. “That’s the key word. We’re part magical creatures after all, and like any magical creature we already have an innate connection to some magic but not all forms of it. And yet, it's still more powerful than banging a drum."

“But don’t worry, Xirafatl,” Ikikunari assured. “We still come from a long line of Maruvian ancestors. The Itz’at has kept well in touch with how they did magic back then, so you’ll be fine.”

“It’s only your first day, too,” Mazateikautl finished as they stepped out into a clearing. “So don’t feel pressure to get it right the first time.”

“My first day…” Esteban whispered as he stopped at the edge of the clearing. He looked up longingly at the side of the mountain they came up to, seeing that the base of it was mostly a rocky wall with a few shrubs growing in between some stones. When Mazateikautl walked up to a part of the rock face covered in vines, he used his antlers to push the mesh aside to reveal a narrow entrance into a gulge. 

Having been so confused as to where the Maruvian’s were hiding in the jungle, Esteban would have celebrated the fact he finally had an idea of where their settlement was now. But even if this was most certainly the same gugle Zyanya had taken him through a few days ago, the man wasn’t all too ready to go through. Would it just be more useless training, or something more?

“Overwhelmed?” 

Esteban didn’t realize Mazateikault and Jun Ja’ Imix had shapeshifted into their human forms until he brought his focus back to the present. Ikikunari suddenly shapeshifted into a human next to Esteban and wrapped a tattooed arm around Esteban’s neck. “Hey, stick with us and you’ll understand magic in no time.”

“You’re saying you’ll help me?” Esteban asked, trying to step away from the grip the hummingbird man had on him.

“Of course, we’re the Xi’paals, the Boys.” Ikikunari beat a fist against his chest. “And The Xi’paals help our amigos! That’s how you say it, right? Amigos?”

Taken aback by those words, Esteban hastily removed Ikikunari’s arm from around his neck. “Look, even if that is how you say it… why say it. We just met. And I’m what? Twice as old as you three.”

“So?”

Esteban looked at them, flabbergasted. Were they for real? He wasn’t planning on being here for more than a day and these three were trying to be friends with him. Mazateikautl motioned for everyone to go through the passage. “Come on, we’re burning daylight.” Ikikunari and Jun Ja’ Imix walked through without delay. Esteban hesitated, once again looking back to where Las Garras could be in the distance. But then again, he thought, this was turning out to be an interesting experience so far. His curiosity helped him start walking through the gulge.

Even though daylight cast shadows into the narrow passage, Esteban was thankful he could finally see and not trip over his own feet. After a long while, they got to the other side where the walls of the gulge sloped down and gave way to open space. Esteban noticed the three Maruvians pass a part of the slope with a glyph carved into the side of a boulder. Each one traced their fingers along the glyph’s surface before continuing forward.

When Esteban looked to where they were heading, his mouth dropped open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, another info dump, with plenty more where that came from hahah. And yes, I did reference my favorite Happy Feet scene. Though the Amigos also inspired The Boys, The Boys are less stereotypical. That I can assure you. What can I say? Happy-go-lucky people that support lost souls are my JAM!
> 
> Fun Facts:  
> 1) Tlakatl and Xirafatle: Tlakatl is nahuatl for “human, person, or being”. Xirafatl is nahuatl for giraffe. Even though giraffes aren't native to Mesoamerica, I couldn’t find a word for tall. I chose Xirafatl because in Mexico, a slang word for tall people is “girafe”, lol.
> 
> 2) Ikikunari: I gave him a Purepecha name because the main Purepecha city was called “place of the hummingbird”. The gauze hip cloth he wears was commonly worn by the Maya and his tattoos are based on how the Huastec people tattooed themselves according to archeological finds. The wind pictogram is how the Mexica (Aztecs) depicted speech in Codices and he has the Maya “wind” glyph on his right chest. The hummingbird on his left chest is drawn in the way the hummingbirds are depicted in Mexica Codices. Because of their feisty nature, Hummingbirds were considered great warriors in past lives.
> 
> 3) Jun Ja’ Imix: His net cape is a Checuentli, one of two net capes commonly worn by the Mexica. The Maya glyphs on the hem translate to 'water'. His spider monkey tattoo is based on Maya art on pottery. 
> 
> 4) Naming: The different ways on how people were named in Mesoamerica vary. The Mexica and other Nahua groups named themselves after animals, colors, items, ect (ex: Mazateikautl). They had a separate name based on the calendar day they were born on. If someone was born on the first day of the deer month, their Calendar name was 1 Deer. Zapotec and Mixtecs were similar though their birth name could also be a phrase or a word (Ex: Zyanya=Forever). The Maya used a different Calendar, the Haab, and implemented their Calendar name in their birth names which often got changed or added. Since Jun was born on the first day of the month of Imix and then he added a name, his name goes Jun (Maya for One) Ja’ (Huastec Maya for Water) Imix (Etymology of the Imix comes from “river, lake, or sea”). The Haab was 365 day calendar with each of the 13 months made up of 20 days.  
> 5) Nagual Elemental Magic: The Elements I’ve chosen are based on important elements in Mesoamerican culture. Rain, Earth, Fire, Wind, and Agriculture. The way they work in the story is somewhat different from other media (ex: Last Airbender). Instead of the word “bending” or “controlling” the key word is “Connected”. More of how the innate ability side of magic works will be explored in the story.
> 
> Welp, I’d leave with something witty, but tbh I gotta run. I need to watch Raya and the Last Dragon ASAP. I’m KikaKatTIOI, peace out!!


End file.
